It’s been two months since I last posted. There’s been many miles traveled, sadness and anger. We lost my mother-in-law on June 18th and attended her service a week later which was the seven-year anniversary of my mother’s death. Two days later my brother died. Why am I posting this? I just want to let you know that if’s okay that you let things go by the wayside in your life, as a writer, as a mom, as a wife, as a person. Don’t get down on it because sometimes there are more important things to deal with. Take the time to reflect and heal and come back to your writing slowly. It will be there waiting, patiently for you to come back and play in its world that you created. Thank you for your patience too and I hope to go back to regular postings. Bye for now.
Life Happens!
Sorry for the delay in my posts. As I said life happens and sometimes you can’t get to your writing. Update on the virtual critique! It was extremely successful for everyone. I meet with three “seasoned” ladies (as in they have more published experience than me!) who gave me some very good advice. I knew my story was needing some work, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Of course , I was reminded of the old adage “show, don’t tell”. (We all said that about each others’ work). I had too many “stage directions”; I apologized for my life in the theatre! There was an excellent suggestion for Chapter One and how to handle my (troublesome to me) Chapter Two. Everyone loved how I opened the story and they felt I have an excellent grasp of the world I’ve created. One person said I’m about eighty-two percent there (which I was thrilled at that number!) Biggest change, a different name for my lead character. Emma is too close to Imma and that can cause some confusion. I’m considering Emilyann with her going by Emi or Emy. Suggestions would be appreciated. I highly recommend finding a good group of people to bounce things off.
Critique time
I joined a year and a half ago to SCBWI — The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators: scbwi.org. I found it to be extremely helpful in learning the ins and outs of writing and publishing. I have only just begun to scratch the surface of what they have to offer. What was the most useful was a link to search for agents, consultations, podcasts with agent interviews, and publishing etiquette and culture (all of which I will now be diving into) at manuscriptwishlist.com. SCBWI sends out monthly newsletters with publishers looking for submissions, conferences, and such. It is targeted by your location. I’m a part of the Kansas and Missouri chapter. Currently, there are peer critiques, in person and virtual, according to what age you are writing for. I’m attending my first virtual critique on June 5th. I’m quite excited to read the other works as well as to see how my writing is received. Critiques are for the first ten pages of your book. I’m also actively seeking more beta readers/critiques for the entire book. I’m in my 3rd revision. It should be ready to read by the end of June. If you’d like to be a reader, comment by clicking on the title of this post and tell me a little about yourself or send me an email at ammimoj@msn.com. Thanks ahead of time for being a part of my journey!
Here we go!
I went to Kansas City Comicon with my oldest in March. While there, I attended a writing lecture. They suggested a book called Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. It was a screenwriting book which I could immediately connect with since I have extensive experience with scripts. I went to my local library to check it out before spending money on my own copy (I love having the physical thing in my hands). I found a new book called Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody. It was awesome! I found it extremely helpful. It’s great for when you’re first starting a book or help with the revision process. I just finished editing Chapter 7 out of 10 (so far 180 pages and over 53,000 words). My ending isn’t complete yet, but that’s what revisions are for right? I’ve made some crucial revisions like changing the age of my character to 16 versus 18 and redacting some of the more sexual moments to keep more in line for a YA novel. It also gives more specialness to my main character Emma. She gains more power and control. She doesn’t think she’s special so all that will move the story into new directions. All in all, I’m happy with the book so far. Next time, I’ll discuss the critique process as it is what I’m working on next. To comment, click on the title Here We Go!
The beginning
I’ve always been a storyteller. I wrote stories in elementary school. I wrote my own scripts for my performances for History Day, of which I went to Nationals. I minored in English (Creative writing) in undergrad. One of my short stories always stuck with me. It was this story that has spawned my burgeoning book, We are Hope. I plan on a trilogy as inspired by The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent. Currently, I’m in revisions on the first book. Soon the search for an agent will happen. I’ve considered self-publishing and will continue to weigh my options. This blog is to document my journey from unpublished to published in hopes it will help others.