Tuesday, April 19, 2016

A Murderous Tuesday Museday

Guys, I have some bad news.

I have to kill some darlings in my book.

No, I don't mean that some lovely people will be meeting an unfortunate end. I mean that I have to take out a section of my book that I thought was really clever.

I had a blast writing the beginning of this book during NaNoWriMo. I flew through it, patting myself on the back the whole time at how brilliant I was. I even showed my husband what I'd done (he doesn't usually read my stuff until it's very polished).

But I just got feedback from my first reader that let me know the beginning was not clever and brilliant, it was repetitive and frustrating. She spelled out exactly why she feels that way, and she is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

So the beginning must be changed, and that darling piece of writing I loved must be killed. I'm quite looking forward to it, actually. The great thing about growing as a writer is learning to see which feedback is valuable and needs to be incorporated into your work, instead of getting hurt feelings because someone doesn't think every single thing you write is perfect. I'm looking forward to the changes; I sincerely feel they will make the beginning of this book stronger.

So for Tuesday Museday, I encourage you to take the reins and cut out those parts of your MS that you know aren't working, even though you love them.

Need fresh eyes on your query letter or Twitter pitch? I'm offering up a couple critiques this week. Query Kombat is coming up, and I'd love to help you get your query nice and shiny. Let me know in the comments if you'd like me to take a look!

16 comments:

Unknown said...

I would LOVE a critique. And good luck on your revising!!

LVP said...

I would slay dragons (poor dragons) for a query critique from you! And best of luck revising! I'm sure you don't need extra help, but I'm always happy to help :)

Kara Reynolds said...

Thanks! Send your query in the body of an e-mail to operationawesome6@gmail.com and include "Tuesday critique" in the subject line.

Kara Reynolds said...

No need to slay dragons! Just send your query in the body of an e-mail to operationawesome6@gmail.com and include "Tuesday critique" in the subject line.

Meg LaTorre-Snyder said...

I would love a query critique! Are you still accepting?

Unknown said...

I second MeganL - any chance you are still accepting? I've read so much contradicting internet info that I'm about to delete this thing.

Shanda Trent said...

May I get in on the action?
Have fun doing your Steven King thing...kill those darlings!

LVP said...

Doing it right now! Should I include my bio or should I leave it out?

Kara Reynolds said...

Okay, Megan, Rachel, and Shanda, you guys are the last ones! Send your queries in the body of an e-mail to operationawesome6@gmail.com with "tuesday critique" somewhere in the subject line.

Meg LaTorre-Snyder said...

Thanks, Kara! I appreciate your taking the time to review our goodies. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Karah Sutton said...

Aw, darn, I just missed the boat. Thanks for offering the critiques! It's really generous.

I know what you mean about feeling clever and pleased with myself... it's usually a mistake!

Karah Sutton said...

Weird, I don't know why that lists my name as 'unknown'. Blogspot can confuse me.

Unknown said...

Thanks! Sending it over now!

Unknown said...

Would really appreciate a critique.

Kara Reynolds said...

I do Tuesday Museday a couple times a month, so check back in a few weeks if you still need help!

Kara Reynolds said...

Next time, Gadget.
Next tiiiiiiime.