book

Emma recorded me after receiving a copy of the proof edition of my non-novel.

This weekend I got one of the best emails I’ve gotten in a very, very long time.  Outside of those that helped me write, Sarah was the first person that read my non-novel and sent me her reaction.  And ya’ll, it was good.  Yes, there is a list of things that need work but I knew that.  It really didn’t get me down at all because these few sentences made my day:

I loved it, I really, really loved it.

I think it’s really wonderful. I cared not only about Sam, but about Dominic, about Beth, about all the peripheral characters. You made them interesting and real. And I forgot that I was reading something that you wrote – it just flowed and drew me in. I really, really loved it.

*squeee*

Thank you, Sarah!!!

I know I’m a little late on this one.  I mean, the movie is coming out in August.

When I remember this novel, I’ll remember that it read like a commentary (a great one).  I’ll remember the dual first-person point of view.  I’ll remember the short sentences.  The wit.  The humor.  The beauty.  I’ll remember Clare’s innocent-yet-not-love for Henry.  I’ll remember Henry’s frustration and yet determination to deal with the life he was given.  Their lust for each other. I’ll remember the mystery.  The game of it all.  The science of it all.  The innocence and wonder of Alba.  Just the smartness of the idea and plot.  The way it made you think about love and time.

I’ll remember it was a good book until the end.  I really, really feel like we were jipped out of that last scene.  So many times we only saw glimpses of Henry’s life and yet kept reading to find out we were given them later.  For example, Clare’s 18th birthday.  Such a big part of the story and yet we didn’t get it until almost the end.  And Henry told us about that last scene they would have together and I was so sure we’d get to see and was so disappointed when we didn’t.  It’s like watching The Notebook and never seeing them die together.

I’ll go and see the movie just because I think Rachel McAdams will be a perfect Clare and Eric Bana should do Henry justice but really?  Unless they fix that last scene, I don’t know if I’ll have a good feeling walking away.

OK, that’s about as close to any sports talk you’ll get on this blog and I’m not even sure I said it right.  And what I mean to say is I hit 50,000 words on my book!  It feels GOOD to see 50,435 on my word count!  Things are starting to wrap up in the book.  Just a few scenes left and I ended on a good note tonight.  So for now, I’m all smiles.

Not sure why I’m being so dramatic about this but here ya go…

Melissa wanted me to join Nanowrimo in November 2008.  Nanowrimo requires a participant to write 50,000 words to be considered a winner.   I didn’t participate but at first I tried to keep up with the 2600 minimum word count per day.  Near impossible.  We were right in the middle of TV season (which requires extra blog work for me), the girls’ birthdays were in November and Thanksgiving and Christmas were just around the corner.  50,000 words became a maybe-in-another-lifetime, or at least another-year, goal.
But a plot was forming in my head and characters and suddenly I was excited about getting the story on paper.  Not because it was the best  plot ever or the best characters or full of the best page turning moments but just because I had thought of enough ideas, that strung together, someone could, if given the time, write 50,000 words about.
But writing was still an effort.  I started with one scene that became the opening and then another that I figured would sit 3/4 of the way through the book.  The rest though?  I struggled through.  Filling in all the gaps of the plot was hard.  Figuring out who my characters are and where they came from and why they do what they do was really hard.  I started calling it my non-novel because surely I would never be able finish.

But I plodded on, maybe more out of a Type A, must-finish attitude than anything.  Or maybe it was just something else to fill my quiet nights with.  I don’t know but it’s six months later and it’s another one of those quiet nights.  I think I’ve figured out my characters, the plot has been written and I’m 459 words away from 50,000.

And it scares me to death to write them.

You would think being that close I would just start spouting off at the fingers and type any conversation I could come up with just to put me past the word count. I remember being in school and adding in all kinds of unnecessary words just to get to the word count goal.  But not with this.  I’ve spent all day fiddling with the end of my plot, recalculating the “big scene” and picking through my main character’s flaws.  I’ve written ideas and stared at the sky trying to come up with the best thing to say.  I think because part of me knows when I hit 50,000 words, I’m really close to the end.  And when it ends, I’m scared I’ll never go back to revise it, which it needs so desperately.  And if I don’t carefully write those last words, I’ll know that I didn’t do my best, that the words I wrote aren’t something to be proud of.  And maybe it’s not just the last 459 words before my goal, maybe it’s the whole book.  Maybe I’m scared that when I get to the end I’ll look back and six months of work and countless hours of planning, worrying and strategizing later, realize that it’s just 50,000 words strung together than no one wants to read.

Yes, I’m scared to fail.

And I guess in art, there is no such thing as failure.  But there is something to be said for the millions of manuscripts that go unread every year, written by millions of authors set out with so much hope and ending with thousands of words to themselves and no one with whom to share them.

Or worse yet, words that they don’t want to share.

So yeah, I’m scared to reach my goal, scared to finish. And yet, I’m going to type this last sentence, open my manuscript and write the best story I know how and just hope I’ll be able look back and smile.

I ran past the #queryday hashtag on Twitter today and somehow became hooked on it most of the day.  Basically what happened is a few agents took questions from the Twitter public about query letters and answered them publicly with the #queryday hashtag.  Honestly, I hadn’t thought about a query letter since school.  And while I don’t see submitting my non-novel in progress, I think it’s possible I might have one good enough one day to submit.  And really, some of the advice was directed towards the book itself, not just the query letter so I loved that.

I know a lot of bloggers are aspiring writers so I thought it might be helpful to share the tweets I favorited today.  A big thanks to all the people who gave such great advice.

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davidalexanderm@angelajames One thing TV drummed into me: get into the story as late as possible, and out as early as possible. #queryday

RachelleGardnerIf I can change my two-spaces-after-a-sentence habit after 25 years of typing, so can you. One space is standard in publishing. #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: If you want to draw me into your novel, don’t write your query in a dry, boring, uber-business-like and/or academic style. #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: Don’t send us something outside of our guidelines and try to impress us with how “out of the box” you are. It’s been tried! #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: If you mention a previously published book, better make sure I’ll be able to find it on Amazon because I WILL look it up. #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: I prefer your query NOT tell me what a great movie your book would make. If it has movie potential, trust me, I’ll notice. #queryday

ColleenLindsayAttached entire manuscript and a head shot. Fail. #queryday

RachelleGardnerChristian writers: Best NOT to say you’re going to explain something about the Bible that no one has ever understood before. #queryday

RachelleGardner@TerriMo I do everything by email. No need for hardcopies… everything goes on my Kindle. #queryday

achelleGardner@TerriMo Never, never, never phone an editor or agent unless they’re YOUR editor or agent. #queryday

RachelleGardner@MaricarMac No need to reveal entire plot in query; give the set-up and premise; make me want to read it. #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: A query that talks only about the THEME of your novel is rarely effective. You need to tell about the STORY. #queryday

ColleenLindsay@luckychica Humor very very hard to sell unless you have a major platform or are a well-known comic. #queryday

DanielLiterary@moonbridgebooks Yes it’s fine, most agents expect it. Don’t really need to mention it. #queryday

moonbridgebooksIs it okay to query many agents at once; if so, do we need to tell agents this? #queryday #queryday

DanielLiterary@Selestial I don’t like to hear anything about series in a query. Often scares me off. #queryday

BostonBookGirlPass: The entire query is about how important it is that this person tell their own story. The query is written by someone else. #queryday

RachelleGardnerReality check: If you are your family’s breadwinner, plan to keep your day job even after you sell several books. #queryday

DanielLiteraryIf you don’t do enough research to address me by name or at least by my agency name, you’ll almost certainly be rejected. #queryday

DanielLiterary@ChristaCarol Only if you get huge traffic. 5,000 unique visitors a day at least. #queryday

RachelleGardner@gempari We need word count, not page count, to determine if it’s something we represent. #queryday

RachelleGardner@jennnixon Most agents only want to know if you WON a contest. The finals, MAYBE. Other than that, it’s not helpful info IMHO. #queryday

RachelleGardner@waterfallbooks I rarely find mixed comparisons helpful (“Jane Austen meets Frank Peretti”). Works in Hollywood but not for me. #queryday

skyladawn#queryday Don’t name more than 3-4 characters in your synopsis. I’m not going to keep them all straight. Just give me the MAIN plot.

michellewitte#queryday Last advice before I start work: Keep your spirits up. If you’ve written a great book eventually someone will want it. Persistence

ElaineSpencer@Daylilie222 depends on genre, & of course there are excptions to evry rule, you could have gr. novel at 50k, but that is not norm #queryday

LeighEllwood#queryday Titles can matter in romance. My mostly female readership might be turned off by “Biker Sluts Weekend in Vegas”.

RachelleGardner@christinerose You don’t need comparative titles in the query, but in the PROPOSAL, you do. #queryday

skyladawn#queryday Don’t send me a manuscript without any dialogue in the first twenty pages. Really. Don’t be afraid of people talking!

RachelleGardnerTip: DON’T say “the book gets exciting in chapter 5” or “the pace really picks up toward the end.” Make it shine from page 1. #queryday

BJMuntainRt @RachelleGardner loves queries that are straight-to-the point and don’t try too hard. The matter of fact approach is refreshing #queryday

ElaineSpencerIf ur novel is over 120k I can’t help but be a little afraid. Plz explain why (or at least acknowledge) ms is so lengthy #queryday

RachelleGardner@janastocks Listing comparable books is important, it puts yours in context, shows u know your market, helps agent “get” your bk. #queryday

RachelleGardnerWhen people send queries on Christmas, New Year’s, Easter… I WANT to auto-reject on principle! But I don’t. #queryday

RachelleGardnerFor me, previously self-published is totally irrelevant. Neither helps nor hurts. See my posts: http://bit.ly/spTIb #queryday

JoeBerkowitzAnd never sidestep the comp titles issue by saying “there’s never been any book like this before.” There totally has! Find them! #queryday

BJMuntainRT @RachelleGardner Query that makes me laugh is a great thing! Whether or not the book is for me, it definitely gets my attention #queryday

RachelleGardnerTip: This may be hard to hear, but I suggest you avoid being in a rush to get published. Take TIME to develop your craft. #queryday

RachelleGardner@mbsmith090801 You must include the genre. Publisher, bookstore, consumer all need 2 know! Find books/websites that discuss genre. #queryday

BostonBookGirlUnnecessary query info: I assume you have edited your work, have a writers group and have shown this to someone who likes it. #queryday

RachelleGardner@AdelleLaudan Depends on whether I feel assaulted. But cursing’s often used as shortcut; u should be able to express self w/o it. #queryday

LeighEllwood#queryday What kills the yes in a potential ms? For me, improbable situations, and characters who aren’t endearing.

zumayabooks@TheaRauth Beginners can replace lack of creds with info on how they prepared manuscript–critique, editor, whatever. #Queryday

DanielLiterary@jjochwat If I were a writer trying to find the right agent, I’d pay for access to Publishers Marketplace.com. #queryday

RachelleGardnerTOP reason I say “no” to queries is the story doesn’t sound unique, fresh, exciting. The problem isn’t the query, it’s the book. #queryday