by Cindy R. Williams
The honest answer, coming from me right now is, "I don't know."
I think I am finally getting close. I started my middle grade novel, "Thundertail's Tale: The Legend" the first of a trilogy, two years ago when I began creative writing classes with Dr. Pamela Goodfellow. I needed guidance on how to get my bedtime stories on paper---stories that have flowed out of me for years like a fantasy series that I have shared with my children.
I avoided English in college, other than the required general classes, not realizing that they would have been invaluable someday. So now is someday, and I study, read, go to writer's seminars, conferences and classes. One of the best tools I have is ANWA. The ladies in my chapter are great, supportive and for the most part give me honest evaluations. I learn from each of them, and their talents. ANWA is a win/win situation. We each give and we each receive.
So back to when are we finished with our writing project? The obvious answer would be, "When it is done." Okay, I'll buy that, but---I still don't know. I am, however very good with making plans, so here goes.
I think I will be done with "Thundertail's Tale: The Legend" after I finish plugging in the last scenes and go back through each and every chapter again, looking for typos, grammar, continuity, storyline, and character arcs. My next step is to print it out and have my very own greatest supporters and toughest critics, my children, and husband, read it. Then I will send it to an editor, and go back through it again with a fine tooth comb. I hope I can then leave it alone and say, "I am done."
The only thing left will be to submit it to agents or publishers? Or will it? If there is any interest in it, I most likely will have to edit it all over again, then if it is published, how about marketing, but that is another topic for another day.
So---I am back again to when will it be done? I really don't know. Those of you that have published novels, please share---Does it really ever end?
OOPS! I scheduled this early, and forgot to fill in one of the boxes, the one that said "by Cindy R. Williams." I guess I was being a ghost writer for this one. So the mystery is now solved.
ReplyDeleteI once submitted a ms for a novel that I knew wasn't really finished, but I got tired of writing. it was rejected, and Covenant suggested I find a writer's group. That's when I joined ANWA. It's been more fulfilling than being published. (Does that smack of 'sour grapes'?)
ReplyDeleteMaybe after I 'finish' my memoirs, I'll go back and finish that great novel I started. And another thought: Can one really 'finish' memoirs? (I hope you enjoy those three finishes.)
Which reminds me of an article I read once, but can't remember who wrote it or where it was published. Anyway, the author said he saw a sign in a furniture place saying, "Finishers wanted." I think of his article as I agonize over all the things I've started but never finished. I think it would be nice to become a finisher.
It's now time to finish this comment.