Thursday 2 December 2010

The truth is out there

Well, the novel is. Following a full ms request, I edited, polished, printed, bubble-wrapped and brown-papered the thing and posted it this morning. I have the usual symptoms: queasy anticipation and mild regret, the latter only insofar as I miss it now it's gone out into the world. I won't say I feel bereft, as that would be gilding the gingerbread, but I am at a loose end. I plan to catch up with my reading, TV viewing and Christmas gift-wrapping, until my head is cleared enough to begin writing something new.

I thought it might be useful to mention (and link to) some blog posts and sound advice which I followed as I edited and prepared the ms for mailing. Firstly, this excellent post by Elizabeth Craig on Keeping it interesting, which helped me to focus on those moments when the story might be slacking off, helping me to keep it fresh and the reader engaged. Dmytry Karpov's blog post, Brevity is key, was a good reminder of one aspect in the editing process: getting rid of anything unnecessary. Finally, as I was about to send it off, I came across this insight by Rachelle Gardner, into what might be going through an agent's mind when she reads my ms.

All of the above, by the way, I discovered via Twitter. I wholeheartedly retract my earlier peevishness about the value of this brand of social networking; it's a goldmine. Of course, you all knew that already, but it took me a while to get past my Luddite objections and see for myself. I'm very glad I did. If you have a Twitter for me to follow - your own or a recommendation - please let me know.

10 comments:

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Good luck with the ms request, Sarah!

And thanks for the posts - I'm already a fan of Rachelle Gardner's blog. :)

Sarah Hilary said...

Thanks, Madeline!

Sherlock said...

Sarah, long time no see. Camille has asked me to do a podcast reading of your story "Kanti Chooses Santa" I love the story and would like to do it very much, you cool with that?

Sarah Hilary said...

The podcast sounds cool - when, where, how? Definitely OK with me.

Nik Perring said...

Good luck, Sarah! My fingers are crossed!

Sarah Hilary said...

Thanks, Nik!

Vanessa Gebbie said...

bogmeLoads of fingers, toes, eyes and legs crossed... and a hug to your lovely daughter too! Smashing to see you all in Bristol.

Sarah Hilary said...

Thanks, Vanessa! Hug duly delivered - daughter says "Hi". Lovely to see you too. I'm enjoying Storm Gathering. "On the Beach" my favourite so far.

Leigh Russell said...

Thanks for commenting on my Curzon post. You've certainly been busy!Congratulations on finishing the MS. I've blogged in a few places now about how it's exciting to be published (of course!) but the real buzz is writing. I hope you can come to my workshop 'In for the Thrill' where I'm sharing tips on how to maintain the 'thrill' factor in crime writing. You can find the link on my blog if you're interested.

Sarah Hilary said...

Thanks, Leigh. I'll check out your website very soon; the workshop sounds great.