Moving Forward

It's happened! I took my OB board and passed! Woohoo! But that's not all folks. As of a couple of hours ago I finished my latest manuscript. I don't mean finished finished, but I completed the first draft and I'm uber excited. I'm insanely in love with this manuscript, the characters, the plot, all of it. I can't wait for it to be ready to query. 

So I've noticed in the process of writing this MS that I've grown a whole lot as a writer. I have hard evidence of this, too. During one of my off task moments (one of the many I had in the avoidance of studying) I printed out the first few chapters of my first manuscript. I've edited this manuscript about six times. I thought at the time that I was getting close to having it ready for agents. I took a red pen to the chapters. I marked the heck out of them far worse than any English teacher's nightmare.

So. Not. Ready.

Don't get me wrong, I love that story too! I love the characters, I've written 4 books about them. I want those to be published, too. Sadly, that's not going to happen until I work some more on them. While this depresses me, at least I'm willing to accept it. Writing is a learning process, is it not? 

This has led me to the conclusion that I must query my current MS first. I feel this is a good move for several reasons. One, it is a stand alone book. I've heard repeatedly that stand alones query better than series. Two, it's written better. The plot is more succinct. I found my niche. The characters are very true to themselves and believable--but this is just what I think. I've yet to beta the MS. After my first swipe at editing I'll be looking for a beta if anyone wants to volunteer :) And if I query this MS first I'll have my foot in the door for querying my series at a later date when it's all ironed out. 

Here comes the red light on all of this. 

I. Hate. Editing.

With a passion. I hate filling plot holes, I hate grammatical editing, I hate rewriting scenes. All of this only in my own work, of course. I can edit the crap out of someone else's document, but only because I know I don't have to make the corrections. Motivation is key here people. 

Another thing that comes along with the editing process is other people's opinions. I posted my current query letter for this MS and got a lot of negative feedback on it. Nit picky stuff that has nothing to do with my letter. My book is about a Ginger, some people freaked out about my usage of this word. I mean, really? Are we five? If you can't read a book with things like that in it I suggest you don't turn on the television or walk outside because something might offend you. I also got nit picked for my usage of the word dimension and given some mathematical equation. Does anyone know if there is a law against using the word dimension in a mathematically incorrect way? Please! Point me in the direction. 

In all seriousness, if I'm using the word dimension in a mathematically incorrect way, is this going to make a difference with agents? I write YA, I'm not trying to get a show on Sci-Fi (or is it Syfy now?) It's not such a big deal to change dimension to "world" or "reality" if necessary.

Well I'm off to bask in the satisfaction of crossing things off my to-do list.

All the best,
Kacey