Revisions to Queries

I finished the revisions on my young adult novel and have begun querying agents. While I don't have an accurate timeline for the book, I think I worked on it – off and on – for about three years.

I wrote about four chapters and then set it aside to work on other things. When I came back to it, I picked up where I left off. Then I started writing the middle of the novel all the way to the end. I came back and finished the beginning.

The next step was to revise the entire thing, which I did on the computer.

Then I printed it out and revised again. Which led me to retype the entire thing and revise it again on the computer.

Another printout. More revisions – this time with highlighters!

Typed it all again.

Another revision on the computer.

Took it to a novel revision retreat where three other people critiqued it.

Revised again – retyping it once more.

Printed it out again for more revisions. I read this copy aloud to myself during lunch in my office.

Made corrections. Printed it out again. Emailed copies to some trusted readers for comments.

Made final corrections. Read over it one last time (mainly for typos) on the computer.

Prepared complete document for sending out to agents.

Wrote query. Revised query. Revised again. Revised one last time.

Wrote synopsis. Revised synopsis.

Sent queries to some agents.

And now the waiting game begins.

I have four different drafts saved on my computer. The first and second drafts had thirty-one chapters, and the third and fourth have thirty-three. Scenes were dropped and added, characters were added, and the ending changed completely.

Fingers crossed!

Aftermath: Novel Revision Retreat

Using the word aftermath in the title of this post is not the best word choice, but it's the best I can come up with after an exhausting weekend of learning revision techniques.

The retreat was phenomenal. The people at the retreat were terrific. The location was beautiful. The facilities were excellent (the chairs in our work room were fabulous - I could actually touch the floor!). The food was delicious - I didn't even eat that much on cruises!

On to the retreat, though. As I said, we were assigned to groups of four. We sat with them and discussed each other's manuscripts all weekend. My group's work was wonderful, promising and encouraging. Each of them had work that was distinctly different from mine and from the other people in our group. I can't wait to read the published versions of their works, and I do believe that all of them have the potential to be published.

Throughout the retreat, I learned ways to add depth and improve my novel. I have lots to do, but I'm ready to get to work.

Thanks, Darcy and Houston SCBWI, for a wonderful retreat!

Novel Revision Retreat

In a couple of weeks I'll be attending a novel revision retreat led by author Darcy Pattison and sponsored by Houston SCBWI. I don't really know what to expect from the retreat.

We had to read two books ahead of time and submit a completed novel. From those submitted novels, we were assigned to groups of four participants, and we got copies of each others' manuscripts to read.

I've read the assigned texts and the manuscripts – one was a contemporary middle grade and the other two were middle-grade fantasy. Mine was an historical novel for young adults.

I enjoyed the manuscripts. I'm looking forward to meeting the writers.

Hope I learn lots at the retreat. I really want to improve my writing. And then I hit the road for conferences in February and March.