NaNoBlog 2002

NaNoBlog 2002
30 days. 50,000 words. No sweat.

Thursday, February 27, 2003

I got my novel critique back yesterday! I found it very helpful, and worth the money. In retrospect I realized the critiquer hadn't even commented on some whole storylines & characters, but I'm hoping that means she didn't see a big problem with them! Most of her comments fell right in line with my own vision for the novel & characters, but were things I'd had trouble clarifying for myself. There will be a lot of work ahead of me rewriting, rethinking, and possibly restructuring most of the novel, but I already knew most of that was needed, and now I have some ideas to start from! The biggest issue was that she didn't know exactly what the main character wanted--& I realized it wasn't all that clear to me, either (whoops!). She also said it seemed like a lot of sub-plots but no main plot...which also seems true, but it's funny, because in most of my writings I end up with one overly simple simple main plot and no sub-plots! (But the craziness that is NaNoWriMo doesn't allow for a lot of complex plotting or outlining--at least if you don't think about it much before November 1!). She had thought the main plot might be about my main character's father's wedding plans, but said it came up too late in the story--around page 80. I really meant for that to come up by Chapter 2, it just took longer than I thought to get to that point when I started writing! I probably need to revise it with that in mind.

I was happiest that she didn't suggest getting rid of my Dexter Monday character--anyone who read this blog as I was writing the novel might recall that he was an afterthought, not part of the original idea at all, & I only threw him in to liven things up. I wasn't sure he fit at all, though, & I feared she'd tell me he added nothing. Instead, she said the novel took on new energy with his arrival, & said I might actually want to start the novel with his arrival & keep him around the whole time instead of having him move away! (Though I'm not sure how I feel about that, particularly the last part. If he sticks around, he'll need to fail the main character in some way, & I want him to be one person who is all he's cracked up to be, & only "fails" her by leaving.)

In other news, I entered the novel in the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Work-in-Progress grant competition today! They accept applications postmarked in February every year & give out the grants in August. I applied for the grant for a "Contemporary Novel for Young People." I had to send an excerpt of up to 2,500 words, a synopsis of the whole novel, and an application form explaining my background and what I'd do with the grant money (I said I'd mainly use it for childcare while writing, as it's hard to write with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old underfoot!). I think I have a very slim chance at winning, especially since I plan to improve the chapter I sent them as a writing sample, but I didn't see a reason not to enter, since I have a fairly well-developed novel and it didn't cost anything to enter.

Also, I got a "good" rejection letter on a picture book manuscript today! It was from the editor who gave me positive feedback at a conference last October and offered to look at my other novel-in-progress when it's done. He rejected my picture book, but the rejection letter was more funny & chatty than the typical "not right for our list" rejection letters I often get, & he actually said he remembered my other project "fondly" and that it was the high point of the critiques he did at that conference!! So now that I've entered the NaNo novel in this grant competition, it may be time to shelve that project for a bit and get that other novel finished & ready to send to this editor before he forgets me! (I originally meant to have that done a month ago--oh well!) I like the looks of NaNoEdMo, and I certainly need it, but I might should do 25 in 30 instead. Wish I could do both, but I'm not sure my family will put up with either!

posted by Alison | 3:56 PM