Hi All!
My first round of revisons are done and with my agent. (To be sent out 4/30/10) Since 4/21/10 I have:
1) Brainstormed with my agent.
2) Got approval for my planned revisions from Harlequin Medical Romance.
3) Deleted 16,000 words from my manuscript.
4) Added 8,000 words including three new scenes, a prologue and an epilogue
5) Moved the heroine finding out she was pregnant from chapter 3 to chapter chapter 11. (And what a nightmare that turned out to be because I needed to edit the pregnancy out of every chapter in between.)
6) I made the hero more lovable (at least tried to) and made his motivation and conflict clearer.
7) I deleted several characters and scenes that either did not move the romance forward or moved it forward via external plot twists.
8) I added more scenes with the hero and heroine together to show the developing romance.
9) I proof read, re-read, and read again until I thought my eyes would surely bleed. (They didn't.)
10) I typed, moved, deleted, and re-typed enough words for a complete second novel. (And if not, close to it!)
In the end, I am very happy with the result.
If I had more time, would I have made more changes? Definately yes, because it's my nature to tinker.
Would additional changes have improved the story? I'm not so sure. (I'm guessing the editor at Harlequin Medical Romance will tell me!)
Now I wait. And as much as I HATE WAITING, it's actually very exciting having a full manuscript being reviewed by an editor with an eye on publishing it. And it beats getting a rejection letter. Whatever happens, this has been a wonderful learning experience and has motivated me to get back to work on other projects, including the sequel to Love, Hospital Style. Because you never know.....
So what have you all been up to?
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Wendy, Just popping by to say hello. Hope your ambitions work out. If I remember right, you have a great writing voice. Janet
ReplyDeleteHi Janet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! Hope to see you at an upcoming HVRWA meeting, soon.
Wow, Wendy that is great! Such an inspiration! I've been working on my book - almost half way through
ReplyDeleteHi Liz!
ReplyDeleteHalf way through is a tough place to be. I'm good with the beginning and know how I want the ending to work out. It's the middle that usually gives me the most trouble. Good luck!
Wow, lots of work. Best wishes with it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Terri!
ReplyDeleteMy, that's a lot to get done so quickly. Did it help a lot to be given direction by your agent, or do you always work that fast?
ReplyDeleteHi, John. Yes and yes. It helped to bounce things off my agent, and I work best under pressure. I get in the zone and work until I'm done. It also helped that I love the story, and while my agent and the editor at Harlequin Medical Romance made suggestions, the changes were ultimately mine. I believed in them and felt good about them. Thus they were easier to implement.
ReplyDeleteHi John! The above message is from me. I'm on my husband's laptop, apparently not paying enough attention to what I'm doing!
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed for you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan...And welcome to my blog. I like your website.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, it sounded like you ran the NY City Marathon!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of hard work and you met your deadline!! Congratulations!!!
Thanks, Dale. It was a bit stressful.
ReplyDeleteWow, Wendy! That is the reason i know you are going to be a huge success in this business. You have talent AND drive! Absolutely fabulous. Congrats on all the hard work and getting it all to the editor in such a short time. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Regina! If only talent and drive were enough!
ReplyDelete