Nerves

Stan has the manuscript. He will, at some point or another, sit down and read some of it (or even all of it).

Oh dear.

Sometimes I think I'm a good writer. Then I read good (and great) writing and feel miserably inadequate.

After all, I remember, I'm not published. I have a marvelous agent, but have yet to convince him my manuscript is ready to be seen. I love my book, but it pales in comparison to my favorite novels.

Of course, even if I get published, that doesn't mean anyone will read it and like it. Even if Stan sends out the manuscript, that doesn't mean it will impress anyone.

At least I love it. That should be enough...right?

Groan.

I just have so much to learn, and I'm afraid I'll never learn it.

If you can't tell, my nerves are eating me up.

All, right. Enough wallowing. Chin up, teeth clenched, and back to work!

Proud of Myself

And I should be!

Yes, I just finished trimming (hacking) 10 percent of my manuscript away. It is DONE. I even went through afterward and cut as many "he/she nodded" and "just" as I could. (I found myself using those a lot--guess we all have weaknesses.)

I cut my 112,600 word manuscript down to 100,400 words. And it shrank from 401 pages to 364.

What an experience! I told my Hubs that it felt like smoothing out a sculpture, and the story is better without my habit of stating the obvious and my apparent need to repeat myself three or four times.

Now I just need my agent to agree that it's finally ready, and someone really ought to check it for technical errors. I would do it myself, but I don't speak 'comma' or 'semi-colon', and I don't trust the 'Grammar Check' program.

Of course, I hesitate to say it's 'done'. I keep thinking it is, and then it isn't, but I'm hopeful. I'd really like to get started on book 2, but I'll wait and see what happens with Wielder first, and in the meantime, I'm going to celebrate by sleeping every chance I get.

I'll let you know when I hear from Stan 'The Amazing Agent'!

G'night!