Editing Outside One's Comfort Zone

-
I have longed for someone to push me to help my manuscript be the best it can be. Finally, I have that. As many of you know, I have the wonderful good fortune to now be mentored by agents Nicole Resciniti and Louise Fury thanks to the RT contest that I placed in. They are taking me in directions I would have never thought to go, to new horizons that I didn't think I could achieve. It isn't easy, but that's all right. I didn't expect it to be.

One of the biggest lessons I'm learning is to revise outside of my comfort zone to help transform my manuscript into the very best it can be. I'm also learning to look at the industry, what readers desire, and what genre dictates to help guide me. Don't get me wrong, I am not fitting my manuscript into a mold. But I am looking at each part of the big picture and approaching my writing from a business perspective, not just an emotional one. This is possible one of the hardest things for us writers to do, but it's also one of the most important.

By adopting this new perspective I'm thrilled to say that it has freed me when I didn't even realize I was holding back. I'm diving into this revision with my eyes wide open and my comfort zones tossed aside. It has given me a sort of fearlessness, a confidence that yes, I can do this.

Comments

  1. Laurie TJuly 29, 2014 at 7:59 AM

    Yes you can do this! So happy for you:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HeatherJuly 29, 2014 at 8:03 AM

      Aw, thank you so much Laurie, that means a lot to me. :)

      Delete
  2. Natalie AguirreJuly 29, 2014 at 10:09 AM

    Congrats on your agents. So excited for you. And glad they are pushing you to edit in ways you're finding helpful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HeatherJuly 29, 2014 at 11:11 AM

      Thank you Natalie! Their advice has been priceless.

      Delete
  3. erica and christyJuly 29, 2014 at 4:11 PM

    Congrats to you! I can totally see how having to stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone can be freeing, especially when revisions have been so difficult (for me) to tackle. I tend to get through one or two revisions and give up. It makes sense that writing emotionally, but revising with a business mind would help the process. Best of luck to you! <3 Christy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HeatherJuly 29, 2014 at 6:55 PM

      Thank you ladies! And you're right, it definitely does help, in ways I never imagined.

      Delete
  4. Angela BrownAugust 9, 2014 at 4:29 PM

    It's wonderful that you've gotten this great opportunity. Being able to take your craft to newer and greater heights is such a powerful step. I look forward to the great works from this new liberation.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are like good friends, the more the merrier!

Popular posts from this blog

Twitter Tuesday~Writer Contest & Agent Advice

-
I've had a busy week and didn't make it onto Twitter much but I did manage to catch a few great tweets for you. And as you can see, I've been doing some early spring cleaning on Heather's Odyssey. I hope you like the fresh look! Great news for young adult writers everywhere! Fabulous agent Weronika Janczuk will now be accepting young adult. If you don't know who Weronika is you've got to check her out: @WeronikaJanczuk New blog post! What I Will Be Looking For In YA: When I reopen to queries on March 8th, I will also be opening t... http://bit.ly/hr4xXY Writer and friend, Iris Blasi tweeting this great link to Twitter's affect on publishing that you don't want to miss: @IrisBlasi "How Twitter is Helping Publishers Reach 100,000 Readers 140 Characters at a Time" http://bit.ly/i4jKyD Chuck Sambuchino of Writer's Digest shares his interview with agent Kathleen Ortiz: @ChuckSambuchino Interview w/ lit agent Kathleen Ortiz (@KOrtizzl
Read more

Movie Review: 47 Ronin

-
Image
For those who don't know, I love martial arts. It has been an integral part of my life since I was fifteen. I absolutely love a well choreographed fight scene. While I'm not big on the traditional old foreign martial arts film style of using wires to an extreme, I do love an excellent martial arts movie. 47 Ronin surprised me in a very big, and wonderful, way. I'm not sure why, but I didn't expect much out of it. Unfortunately that means I didn't go see it in the theater and I regret that deeply. This would have been phenomenal on the big screen. The story was excellent, a good, Americanized retelling of the tale of the 47 Ronin. The acting was compelling and I loved Keannu in this role. His fight scenes in particular were quite spectacular. I was reminded of Brad Pitt's scenes in Troy, only better. Yes, you read that right. Keannu's fight scenes were even better. I can hardly believe I wrote that, being such a big fan of Brad in Troy. But there you have
Read more

A New Novel and Call for Cover Reveal Participants

-
It's finally official, my first epic fantasy novel, The Dragon Empire , is releasing in Spring of Next year! To celebrate I'm doing a cover reveal in January (official reveal date is Monday January 14th but you can post any time after that as well) and I'd love it if all of you would like to participate. You don't have to do much if you don't want to, I'll do all the work for you with a guest post! For those who would like to participate, I'll send out a guest post for you to put up on your blog. And any time you have in January~or even February if you're really booked~would be fantastic and hugely appreciated. To help me out and be a part of it, shoot me an email or leave me a comment below with a way to contact you. Or, you can sign up over at Xpresso Reads Book Tours .  I'm crazy excited but also a bit nervous as I am venturing a wee bit out of the young adult genre on this one. It's more of a new adult novel than YA. For me this isn't
Read more