First Draft Complete

The first draft of my novel is *finally* finished!  I'm almost done with my second read-through, making edits to the version I printed out.  I'm excited!  I've already begun my query letter and have started an agent search.  Haven't started a synopsis yet.  Blegh!  But I have begun work on another book.  This one will also be YA, but it will be historical fiction.  I'm really happy with the progress I'm making right now.

The Next Step

So this is what it feels like.  In my writing class, I have been told I should try to make my first publication something local, even if its unpaid.  This will help me gain the attention of paying markets.

And now my non-fiction story "A Case of Flowers" has been accepted for publication in the first issue of The Polk Street Review.

It's local, I'm not getting paid, and I am ridiculously happy!  The layout of all my future query letters has changed forever.  :-)

Patience

I wish it didn't take so long to hear back from the places I've submitted my work too!  I just sent out submissions for the first time in Jan/Feb and haven't heard back from most of the places.  I have received two rejections, both of the same story-- those were the only quick responses!  And I don't even like that story, I just decided to send out every short I had written recently so I learned my lesson on that.  I just did some edits of what I consider the best short story I've written so far "2014" and resubmitted.   It's my first experiment with futuristic writing, even though it's only a few years in the future, and it was really fun to write.

I wish that even my rejections would come faster, but I guess this is all part of the process!  I have made attempts to contact one or two places, to see if they had even received my queries, and if I hear nothing soon it will be time to resubmit those as well.  

Motivation

Something has happened to me in the past few months.  With the deaths of my Mammaw, Dad, and one of my good friends all in one year, and also with the birth of my son, I have changed.  I am strongly against doing anything that I consider a waste of my time.  I am submitting my writing and looking for freelance opportunities like never before.  I have even started looking into full-time contributor positions.    A feel like a fire within is pushing me forward, and I won't be satisfied until I make progress.

The glorious first draft; the merciless shredding

Well, my next project is under way.  I've written the draft and given copies to my interviewees so they can let me know if I misquoted them, and of course I think the whole article sucks!  

Nah, there's potential, I've got some more tweaking to do and the deadline is still over a week away.  Sometimes when I get critiques I get really mad, but I don't want to be one of those people who can't take criticism.  Sometimes people get all uptight when really what they wrote needs work.  Sometimes I do get mad, then realize I'm just mad at myself because I do need to edit.  Others I get mad because I feel like the advice is contradictory or unnecessary.  But in the end I think I do a good job about finding the difference these days between what I need to consider and what I can ignore.  

I think I may be graduating to the point of having beta readers one day.