Friday, October 17, 2014

Find that Agent



These last few months have been very busy ones for me.  I have edited my manuscript more than once, rewritten the beginning chapters, created more depth in my characters, and cut out chapters that were not advancing the plot even though I loved them.  As my writers group leader used to say, "kill your babies" which means ditch those special chapters, paragraphs or lines that you adore so much -- cut them if they are not adding to the story.  And as hard as that has been, I've ditched most, if not all of them.  In some cases, I moved descriptions to other parts of the story where they fit better.  In other cases, they lie in my unused file, hoping for a home some day.

My characters appear more 3-dimensional.  They show how they feel, how they act or react to certain situations, and what they are made of when they face certain perils.  Remember, there is NO telling.  I also added a few unique quirks to the main characters... we all have them, so should our characters.  But I feel I can develop them even more in the sequel that I'm writing.

And, since I last wrote, I am happy to say that three agents have expressed interest in my manuscript. Oh, and I did rewrite my query too, and developed what I think is a fairly good short synopsis.  Every time I'm about ready to think "self publish," an agent replies and wants more.

My manuscript is good (so say my reviewers) and I'm not about to give up on it.  I've sent out close to a hundred queries; some agents have nicely replied "not interested," some just never bother to send a response.  We aspiring writers seeking to be published must be a very large group, because the agents keep saying that they don't respond because of the volume of queries they are receiving.

As I wait for my agent to appear, I have not been wasting time.  I have a draft of another manuscript which I'm editing, and a sequel to my mystery/romance manuscript which I'm also working on.  The sequel features the same two primary characters who work well together, if I say so myself.  They are about to be caught up in solving another serial murder cold case.  The other manuscript is a time travel story that has been spinning around in my mind for years.  It is now finding its way to paper.

So, what I'm telling you today is don't give up, don't sit around waiting for something to happen, keep writing.  And keep reading.

Send me you comments...

Till, 
Judi


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