After Your First Draft...

I'm putting the final touches on the third draft to my novel, Spirit Quest. Although, I could argue that this is actually the fourth or fifth draft seeing as how I've rewritten some chapters.

The first draft is simply getting your ideas on paper, writing it all out. The second draft is taking a long sober look at what you have and finding the real story. The third draft is shaping and polishing that real story.

Working on an existing draft is different than writing. Sometimes all you have to do is cut a word or a sentence, re-write a sentence, or add a new one. Sometimes, it cutting a paragraph or a chapter. And sometimes, it juggling the chapter order to improve the story's pacing.

Don't underestimate the amount of time and work required. The first draft is simply that, a first step. There's a lot of work and a lot of it is thinking work. Thinking about your story and characters and their evolution throughout. Thinking about your ending and making sure you set it up properly. That's another aspect not to underestimate: know where you're going.

Knowing the ending is so key to your whole story. Even after your first draft you might not know where you're going, but you do need to work on that right away as your address your second draft.

It was a great accomplishment to complete my first draft. But, I know now that completing the third draft is a whole other feeling. And it feels great.

A Hunting I Will Go ... For An Agent

The hunt begins this week for an agent for my novel, SPIRIT QUEST. I'll probably wait until mid-January to query potential agents as they'll just be getting back into the office. Meanwhile, as I've done a bit of research and reading on the subject, I thought I'd share my step-by-step guide that I hope to try out shortly!

1. Get your manuscript done.
2. Have another read of it.
3. Search Google for the agents of your favorite writers in the genre you're interested in. Pick five agents. Do a bit more genre-related Google searches to find other agent suggestions.
4. Review their guidelines. Make sure they're open and they're interested in what you've got.
5. Do a Google search on those agents, read about them from their twitter feed, guest blog posts, or their own blog posts. Make sure they're a good fit for you. Keep an eye for other agents on those blogs.
6. Most agents are okay with you submitting to multiple agents, just not within the same agency. 
7. Review their submission guidelines again and make sure you follow them. There's really no worse impression than submitting your novel and not following their guidelines.
8. Submit.
9. Be patient. Don't follow up with them a day or two after their response time estimate.
10. Be prepared for rejection.
11. If rejected, go back to Step 3.
12. Do the happy dance!

 Disclaimer - The guide is by no means perfect and is no guarantee of success. It's just a fun way to present what I've learned. Feel free to post comments and make suggestions.

Here's a great website/blog I came across: quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/search/label/*%20Literary%20agents

Everyone Deals With Rejection...

Rejection Letter for U2's tape in 1979. The band would sign in 1980 with Island Records and the rest is history...

Looking Ahead To 2015 - Writing Goals

Looking ahead to 2015, I'm making my biggest push!

SPIRIT QUEST
[  ] Complete manuscript polish (early Jan)
[  ] Submit queries to at least 5 agents (early Jan)
[  ] Create a detailed outline for my next SERT novel (February)


OTHER PROJECTS
[  ] Complete latest Back Issue! magazine assignment (end of Jan)
[  ] Learn writing techniques from the styles of at least 3 authors
[  ] Create a detailed outline for Legacy of Shadows

READING
[   ] Read 2 books/month

BLOGGING
[   ] Writing blog (twice a week)
[   ] Marvel 1980s blog/tumblr

WRITING GRANTS
[   ] Ontario Arts Council (Feb 18, Jun 16, Oct 15) 

[   ] Toronto Arts Council (June 15/2015)
[  ] Canada Arts Council (October 1/2015)

Piece of cake, right?

Looking back at 2014

As I sit down to compose my 2015 writing goals, I thought I'd look back and see how I did last year.

Here are my 2014 goals:

Prepare my submission package for Spirit Quest
[  X ] Revise synopsis
[  X ] Polish first 10,000 words

Longer term goals for 2014
[ X  ] Complete the Second Draft of Spirit Quest
[   ] Read 2 books/month

Continue Blogging
[   ] Writing blog (twice a week)
[ X  ] Marvel 1980s blog/tumblr
[ X ] DC 1980s blog

Continue to pursue writing grants
[ X  ] Ontario Arts Council - WRITERS' WORKS IN PROGRESS (February 18, 2014)
[ X  ] Toronto Arts Council (June 16/2014)
[ X ] Canada Arts Council (October 2014)

Not bad. In 2014, I got my novel, SPIRIT QUEST, in good shape. I not only polished the first 10k, but completed the 2nd draft pass on it and I'm currently about 70% through the 3rd draft stage. In addition, I completed its synopsis and worked on an agent pitch that I'm hoping to send out early in the new year.

One of the two big fails of the year was my writing blog... and I have no excuse. So, it'll go back onto the top of the list for this year. I've also dropped my DC in the 1980s blog as I've had to start cutting back. On the positive side, my Marvel Comics of the 1980s tumblr page is almost at 10,000 followers!

And the last of my big fails of the year was reading. While I did read 10 books this year, it fell short of the 24 I had wanted to reach. 

Unfortunately while I did apply for all of the writing grants, they didn't warm up to Canadian urban fantasy pitch.

Overall, some great progress and some clear goals for 2015.

Next up, my 2015 goals!

The Halloween Gloom of 2014

Halloween is normally my favourite time of the year. But, this year, not so much. I'm not sure what's different about this year, but I'm not really feeling the Halloween spirit. Usually, I spend the month's evenings watching an assortment of Halloween flicks, but I really struggled to do so this year, only watching a handful of movies.

It's been a terribly busy October with my daughter's multiple birthday celebrations, Canadian Thanksgiving, my parents visiting, my son starting hockey, crazy busy weekends, murder mystery events and the Toronto Zombie Walk. Work has been really challenging as well and has sapped a lot of my energy. And the cold, gloomy weather with the winter and snow looming doesn't help.

Maybe I'm just tired and worn down. Or maybe it's just getting old that's sinking in.

Here's hoping the Halloween spirits drop by and rekindle my love of this holiday!

NaNoReWrimo For Me This Year

No NaNoWrimo for me this year despite having "won" for the past 3 years. I'm in the middle of the second draft of my novel Spirit Quest.

However, I don't want to let the energy of NaNoWrimo slip away, so instead of writing 1,700 words a day, I'll be rewriting my novel. NaNoReWrimo.

I'm really pleased with the first 100 pages of my 105,000 word novel, about 22,000 words. So that leaves me with roughly 83,000 to tackle over the 30 days, 2,800 words a day.