A Fresh Set of Eyes

So it's been just over a week since I received the manuscript assessment report back from Brian Keaney of the Writer's Workshop. He told me, in his report, that he thought I would find his assessment 'challenging' and I did. However, it's a good challenge.

I now have information on what will make my story fit better in the publishing world. I always had a certain blindness to this reality. It's one thing to read a book, a shelf of books, in your genre, but it isn't always easy to apply that to your own writing. I now have a better idea of what will make my novel work.

I'm making a number of amendments. For instance, the book is now solely from the point of view of Steve (albeit still from a third person perspective) which has meant removing some chapters. I'll have to find a way to convey the information from these chapters in other ways.

I always wondered whether having access to Steve's internal dialogue, his thoughts, would work in a children's novel. Now, I know that it will. That's another amendment to make.

Similarly, I was unsure how much description to use. I wondered if a child/teenager would get bored and prefer action. I now know how to deal with that too.

I suddenly feel that I have a focus that was lacking before. I can see where to take my novel and I'm excited about that. My new chapter plan is almost complete. I just need one more obstacle for my characters to deal with.

If any of you are looking to have your manuscript professionally assessed, I can thoroughly recommend the Writers Workshop. Their communication by email has been swift, polite and helpful, and my assessment was well worth the money.

I envision the re-write of my novel will take me into the summer and then it's all guns blazing to find an agent.

Comments

  1. I'm glad you found the input from Writer's Workshop useful, especially when you can see what needs to be done and get to work on editing and revising with a clear vision. I'm excited for you and your novel, Fi. Have fun!

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  2. That's great that the feedback was so helpful and you know how to tackle revisions. Good luck!

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