NaNoBlog 2002
30 days.
50,000 words.
No sweat.
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NaNoBlog 2002 |
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Monday, January 27, 2003
My writers' retreat with the editor was so-so. I enjoyed the social aspects of the retreat, but was admittedly a bit stunned when the editor didn't really critique my manuscript because she didn't think the subject was workable. She said I could write well but the premise was too uninteresting to carry a novel (this was not my NaNo novel, but a different novel for children). I had anticipated many different possible criticisms, but never that one! It has certainly made me second-guess myself. She was more positive about my picture book manuscripts, but thought they started stronger than they ended.
Anyway, I took my NaNo novel with me, and would have had an opportunity to show her a bit of it, or at least to show her the plot summary I wrote for it, but I chickened out. Although I did briefly tell some things about it while we were chatting, I decided it just wasn't polished enough yet to show her. But now I am kicking myself, because I realize I didn't really have anything to lose by showing it to her. I'm not necessarily planning to submit anything else to her--she apparently doesn't like the kind of stuff I normally write. So the worst that could have happened is that she would have disliked the novel as well, but what if she had liked it? It definitely has some elements she mentioned liking in novels (realistic story, romance, and a theatre connection). And I'm considering paying big bucks for a professional critique of it, so I'm not sure why I didn't think to get a free professional opinion on at least the plot summary or opening! Sigh. At any rate, it was nice having a couple of days to just hang out with writers and talk about writing, etc. I didn't get any writing done because I was a bit jittery the whole time, but I really enjoyed the creative atmosphere. posted by Alison | 7:29 PM
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