Ghastly, ghastly, oh, so nastly. Or something like that. You know what I mean. A while back, I wrote a romantic suspense mansucript. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. My agent couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. She just kept saying it didn't "work" for her. So, because I wanted to know what was wrong, I paid to have it professionally edited. When it came back there were a lot of notes. A LOT OF NOTES. I got very depressed. I put said manuscript away.
Well, recently I've gotten to feeling that I need to revisit the manuscript and make the changes the editor recommended. A LOT OF CHANGES. It hurts. It hurts a huge, whopping, great deal. And sometimes I disagree with her. But probably 80% of the time I can see she's right. So that means I have to make 80% of the changes she recommends. Ouch.
So, a couple of new sentences I added to the old manuscript:
Mrs. Josephs looked up at him, her head shaking slightly as if she would say no, then finally acquiesced. He led her away, leaving Ethan alone with Renee’s father.
I don't want to say what I read this week because it was so bad if it hadn't been on my Kindle I'd have thrown it against the wall. So I'll give you two I read last week instead. From Leslie Dicken's A Tarnished Heart:
Lizzie's shoes squished her arrival. She stared at the tall man who stood in front of the fireplace, his dark head angled up at her mother's large painting.
And you? What did you read? What did you write? As usual, let us know and we'll update this post as the day goes on with links to you!
Posts
4 comments:
A lot of changes - yes, that does sound ghastly :(
Lots of sympathy, but if that is some sort of comfort, I haven´t written anything for a week. My excuse is a long row of external examinations - not very fun either.
Oh, my. A lot of changes sounds like a lot of work. Good for you for girding your loins and getting at it, and good for the new sentences,too.
I don't have anything to contribute this week. I've started a new WIP three times now, trashed it once, resurrected it later, and am still not past the first few thousand words.
I agree with Leah. I'm proud of you for just doing it. And I'm glad to hear that you're only making those changes that make sense to you.
I just got One Was A Soldier, the new Julia-Spencer Fleming, from the library. Let me tell you, things heat up quickly between Clare and Russ. The following bit takes place in Russ' truck AS HE'S DRIVING:
"Her hands were all over him, touching him, unbuttoning his uniform blouse, tugging his T-shirt out of his pants. 'What are you doing, you crazy woman?'"
Wow, Anita! Hot dang tamales!
Good for you, Laura, for tackling such a big project!
I haven't written anything of my own in forever, it seems like, only a hundred words or two at a time. How long until that's a novel? I have been reading though, a book by Princess Radziwill from 1917 about Rasputin:
"A lot of exaggerated tales have been put into circulation concerning the Empress Alexandra, the part she has played in the perturbations that have shaken Russia from one end to another and the extraordinary influence which, thanks to her and to her efforts in his behalf, the sinister personage called Rasputin came to acquire over public affairs in the vast empire reigned over by Nicholas II. for twenty-two years. A good many of these tales repose on nothing but imagination, but nevertheless it is unfortunately too true that it it to the conduct of the Empress, and to the part she attempted to play in the politics of the world, that the Romanoff's owe the loss of their throne."
Man, in those days, they knew how to pack a sentence for more than an overnight trip. That's a two-weeker at least with extra socks!
Post a Comment