Start Me Up: Writing That First Draft

Whenever someone I meet hears that I wrote a book, the first thing they say is, "People always tell me I should write a book." The second is, "Oh, so you're going to be the next JK Rowling?" because I write YA fantasy. (For the record, no, I'm not, but it's nice of them to say.) Writing a book is hard work, especially if it's your first book and you don't know where to start.

So, what's first?

Edit, No...Rewrite, Nah...Revisions. Yeah, That's It. Handling Revisions.

When you get back a critique, how do you incorporate the feedback?

Everyone has the own way, but when faced with pages of information and comments, sometimes it's hard to know where to start. Since I'm sitting here with six -- yes six -- great critiques for Shifter 2, I thought I'd share how I go about revising after a critique.

First thing I do is read them. Sounds crazy, right? But I read them with no expectations. I'm not trying to see if anyone liked the book, I just want to know what they thought. I make no judgments here. If anything pops up that seems totally whacked, I just let it slide on by.

Once I've read them all, I ask my critiquers any questions I might have. Sometimes I'll need clarification on a point, or someone will say something that really hits me and I'll want them to elaborate. After that, I let the critique sit for a few days.

The sitting is a pretty important aspect. We all have great hopes and dreams for our work, so any negative comment can give us a knee-jerk reaction and the need to justify why we did something. It's not uncommon to think, "They're just missing the point"at this stage. (For the record, they usually aren't)

After a few days, I go back and read the crits again, this time with an eye for what the problems are. I open a new file and take notes on things I agree with and plan to fix. I note any suggestions made I think would work.

Then I look at the stuff that seemed to miss the point. I try to understand why the comment was made. Was the problem really what they said it was, or did this moment not work because I failed somewhere else, and this is when that error becomes clear? This is the hardest type of comment to deal with, because sometimes it's a legitimate comment, and sometimes it really is the critiquer missing the point.

How can you tell the difference?

Well, if more than one person tells me the same thing, chances are it's a problem.

If I can see what the person is talking about, but disagree, chances are it's a problem, but not the problem they think it is. I probably didn't set it up correctly and they expected something else by the time they got to this moment.

If I can't figure out what they're talking about, and asking yields no further understanding, it's probably just them.

If I understand what they're talking about, but it's something that is addressed in the story, I go back and tweak it a little to make sure it's clear. It might be just them, but it's possible others could benefit from a little more clarification.

Next comes figuring out what needs to be fixed, using the notes I took on the larger issues. I copy those notes in the story file itself (in a different color of course), elaborating where needed. Often, I add a summary paragraph or two at the start of the chapter the changes need to occur in. I adjust my outline and chapter summaries. I cut out the old stuff I know is getting deleted (such as a chapter or scene). I basically prep for the heavy duty rewriting.

Once all the big stuff is marked down and I know the macro level issues, I move on to the line edits. I go critique by critique and fix anything that's easy (a typo, an odd word choice, an extra clause). All the other comments I cut and past into my main document in the same places the critiquer made them.

Finally, I start reading on page one, making the changes as I come to them. If I encounter anything that requires more thought or planning, I highlight it in yellow and move on. My goal here is to make as many edits as I can without getting bogged down. After the easy stuff is done, I can focus on the harder rewrites and make sure they fit the new story lines.

After all that is finished, I let the manuscript sit for a week or two (unless I'm on a deadline, like now, then I jump right in). Then I go back and read it yet again. I fix anything that pops out at me. I keep doing this until the manuscript is clean. I consider it clean when I tweak a word here and there as I read, but nothing more.

If the changes were major, I'll ask for more critiques and go through the whole process again. It takes work, but I've found it to be an effective way to revise.

And not nearly as messy as dealing with Post-its.

Aw! of the Day

Because no blog is complete without a cat picture.

And because I'm a bit brain friend and need the remaining energy (and brain cells) I have left to plan out some new plots for Shifter 2. Enjoy the cuteness and I'll have something interesting to say on Monday.

The Call: Or How My Agent Made Me a Crazy Person

I totally forgot it was April Fool's Day until I logged into Absolute Write and saw that it had gone all Twilight all the time. It's pretty hysterical, so go take a peek. If you're a writer and haven't found Absolute... uh...Bite...dash over right now and join in the fun.

Rachelle Gardner also talks about all the things you should look for in a an agent.

And Brooklyn Arden is just plain genius.

I really wanted to do something clever and funny, but nothing came to me, (And the delightful lass at How Publishing Really Work does it so much better here.) so you'll have to settle for a story writers get asked all the time (at least by other writers).

What was "The Call" Like? Or, how did you find out you'd sold your novel? (I know people are curious about this stuff, so I'll try to be as candid as possible without giving away details that will make my agent put a hit out on me. Some stuff is private for a reason)

Some writers have the big "my agent called with this huge offer" moment, but mine wasn't so dramatic. My agent sent me an e-mail when she started submitting The Shifter (then still called The Pain Merchants) to editors, letting me know who and where it was going.

Did I want to see the rejections? she asked.

Sure, I replied.

She promised to forward comments to me as she got them. That was around the end of May 2008.

We got the first responses back the first week in June. One no (but just to the query), but one the editor loved it so far. The first official no after reading the fill manuscript came about a week later. Knowing that the first editor was still loving it and sending it on to her publisher to read helped take the sting out of that no. More responses came in over the next two weeks, and by mid-June, I got another rejection for my files, with an "oh, by the way..." comment. My agent had spoken to an editor and she hoped to have an offer the next day.

Hardly dramatic, I know. I was still jazzed and wanted to know details, but my agent was playing it close to the vest at this point. I danced around the house like a crazy person.

The next day a second editor came on the scene. Totally loved the book, and it looked like another offer was in the works. Nothing official yet of course, but definite interest going on for my little book. My feet hadn't touched the floor in days.

Then, I got the official "Call". My agent calls me up to discuss a solid offer, a pre-empt. (A pre-empt is where a publisher comes in with a large enough advance to chase away the competition. Now, "large enough" doesn't always mean huge money, just more than another house might be willing to pay for the same book. I'm no millionaire or anything. I still need my day job)

My agent spells out the details. I'm speechless. (Actually, I think I gasped "holy s@#t!") From everything I'd researched, the average advance for a science fiction/fantasy novel was around $5000. I figured with an agent, I'd might get two, maybe three times that as a debut author. Let's just say this offer was more than that.

Then here's the kicker. My agent recommended I turn it down. Yeah. Here's where I started hyperventilating. But the deal had some stuff in it she didn't think was best for me, and she wanted to negotiate something better. Which is the whole reason you have an agent in the first place. Trust me folks, you want someone like this in your corner at this moment. Your brain won't be able to focus on anything past "I'm gonna sell my novel, I'm gonna sell my novel!" You know nothing about rights or contracts or royalties and all the other stuff that also goes into a book deal. And those are very important things to get right.

So I did as she said, cause she knows what she's talking about. Negotiations began. The pre-empt was successful, and the other editors who were interested were chased away.

The offering editor came back with something my agent liked better. But we still had a few editors out there who hadn't responded, and just like when you're looking for an agent, you give everyone who expressed interest in your work a chance to say yay or nay. It's only polite. (And good business)

Then editor two came in with their own pre-empt. Now, as they say, we had a ball game. I was a basket case at this point, a total loon, freaking out and giggling like a madwoman. I wanted to tell everyone I knew, but of course I couldn't. I sat back and let my agent do her thing while I breathed slowly into a paper bag.

Both deals were good, so it really came down to which was better for me and my book. I got to talk to both editors and hear what they had to say. And let me tell you, hearing top-notch editors gush about your book is the most Awesome Thing Ever. Now, it was up to us to choose.

My agent and I discussed all the pros and cons, we looked at the deals and we made our decision. On June 26, 2008, this announcement went out in Publishers Weekly:

Janice Hardy's debut fantasy trilogy beginning with THE PAIN MERCHANTS, about a teen war orphan who becomes a pawn in a bigger political game when her uncanny ability to heal by drawing pain turns out to be the only weapon she has to save her sister, to Donna Bray at Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins for their their launch list in a very good deal pre-empt by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency.

When this all started, I had hoped to sell one book for enough money to re-do my master bathroom (which has the ugliest wallpaper known to man). Instead, I ended up with a three-book deal for six figures. Not too shabby. Certainly a dream come true and more than I was even willing to dream. The most astonishing thing... I still haven't re-done that master bathroom.