Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Back to the Drawing Board

Yesterday I got my full critique back and (eye pop) it needs a ton of work!  Instead of discouraging me like I thought it would, however, it thrilled me to receive this feedback.  Since I wrote my book there have been things that have irked me...like Janie annoys me sometimes (she is the main character), Jonas is wishy washy (he is the guardian angel), and the beginning felt wrong. 
After I had read and edited my 390+ page manuscript more times than I care to count, the last thing I wanted to do was go on and do major changes.  I mean, seriously, where would I begin?
What I needed was a fresh pair of eyes and those eyes gave my some excellent suggestions with the very things that have bothered me.
The only thing that bums me out is that I don't know if I can pull all of this off by the conference in Feb!  I may have to actually cancel and go to a later one.  It breaks my heart but I don't want to pitch something that is unpitchable (is that even a word?)  Any hoo, not gonna let it get me down...just heading back to the drawing board.

15 comments:

Sara Curran-Ross said...

It feels soul destroying when that happens but it's worthwhile. Happened to me a few times and it really does make your work better. My hubby reads a lot of my stuff and he's a harsh critic! Good luck.

Sara

Ottilie Weber said...

Good feedback is always helpful. I can be critical and I know what you mean, after going through it so much you feel like you know there is something wrong, but you don't know where to start because you had gone through it so many times as it is. Good luck fixing it up, but I wouldn't stress about time.

Normalyn from Stack of Books said...

Good luck to your editing! Thanks for dropping by my blog...I'm your new follower :)

The Meditative Mom said...

You inspire me. Way to go after your dream! Thanks for visiting my page and voting! :)

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous said...

This is awesome. You're going for your dream, and that's great. Every great author had to start from somewhere. You set your mind towards something, and it will happen. I look at my friend, and realize that it is very, very true. She recently got her book published. (It's nothing big, but it gets the foot in the door) I have all the faith in people who make their dreams reality. :)

Deana said...

Thanks so much Angelica! Hearing kind words like that really help motivate me:)

Congrats to your friend by the way. I'll bet she is thrilled to be published. What kind of book did she write?

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous said...

I'm not sure what you would put it under. I guess a little bit of a suspense. Not sure. It a short one though like 170 pages or something but still like said got to start somewhere.

Deana said...

Cool! I love quick suspense reads. Whats the name? I'll have to check it out. I guess it is on your blog. I'll head over and see if I can find it.

Emy said...

Good luck with the book! It must be so exciting.

I'm a new follower. I found you through Mom Bloggers Club. Hope you can stop by my blog some time soon. I have a lot of cool giveaways going on...Carmex Kit, CSN GC, L'BRI Skincare products, boogie Wipes and some others.

http://alwaysaroundboys.blogspot.com

Ashley @ Bookaholics Anonymous said...

Lol...yeah it's on there a few times., but it's Heinous Crimes, Immoral Minds by Aubrey Becker. It can found on Amazon too

Marina DelVecchio said...

HI Deana, thanks for coming on to my site and commenting on GQ and Glee article. I always love it when people agree with my views LOL. Good luck at the ANWA convention. Hope you get a publisher/agent and successfully published.

Unknown said...

This is so exciting! I have dreams of getting books published but am much farther behind in the process than you. Good luck revising! Thanks for dropping by my blog.
--Carla

Anonymous said...

I am a new follower as well. Found you through Google Friend Connect :)

Jaclyn Rubly
www.MomBit.com

Selena said...

hi deanna, i chose to follow both of your blogs and email subscribe to this one!

i'm so glad to have found you through MBC. you're so inspiring - i know how hard it is to be a stay SAHM, while merging into being a WAHM, which you totally are - it takes work to do what you are doing! while keeping it all together at home, kudos to you girl that business is H.A.R.D.

as for your book nad the changes/revisements you need to make, as hard as it is - you are being so professional and smart about this. it means you are wanting to make your dreams a reality - seriously and with every ounce of realistic planning, work, and research possible. i've only just started to get to know you through your blog, but feel that you can TOTALLy do this and minor set-back are just that. Minor in the face of your dedication! i've had my own minor setbacks with my business le petit reve. if you have a chance check it out!

http://www.lepetitreve.etsy.com

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