About 44% Done

Editing of version 4 continues. I'm through 85 of the first 200 pages and have already added 15 pages. Thanks to great editing suggestions from friends and family, I have concentrated on adding a sense of place and visuals to the story. As I do this, I find ways to play with the visuals/details to make the story richer throughout.

That's the latest. Back to the grind.

Rejection #1

Well, I just got off the phone with a friend who is a long time literary agent. He has turned down the book saying that he didn't get it and that it wasn't for him. I've been waiting for this.

This is not only the book's first rejection, but is its first out and out negative review. Other folks have given it broad positive reviews before providing various criticisms. While I've worked hard to make this book accessible short of holding the reader's hand, I knew not everyone would like it and not everyone would get it. Now I have proof. Things were going a little too well there for a while. At least that's out of the way. But as my Mom likes to remind me, "Dr. Seuss was rejected 80 times before he got published." Thanks, Ma!

In other news, editing of version #4 is going well and I'm on track for a March 1st completion. I typically work best with a chip on my shoulder and well, now I've got one.

Picking Up The Pen

Thanks to several friends, I have now received enough feedback to build a consensus on what improvements the book needs most. While I look forward to receiving more feedback from others (I'm looking at you, Brittany), I'm ready to pick the pen up again.

Next steps:

1) Ideally, I'd like to finish the next draft by March 1st. This will mean editing 8-9 pages a day.

2) Read the book aloud. One of the great ways to edit one's material is to read it aloud. While my eyes have read the book over and over, I haven't heard it, I haven't pronounced it. Reading aloud should expose me to mistakes I've made (grammatical and story-wise) and help me see gaps to fill.

3) Embrace criticism as opportunity. Reviewers have noted various short-comings and have cut my work out for me. What I have to do is see these short-comings as challenges and opportunities to prove that I'm not just good at dialogue or just good at word-play, but good. Period.

That's the plan.

Back to school

Since my last post in late December, three people have read Any Color You Want and have provided excellent feedback. While I wait to hear from more readers to get a more well-rounded and consistent view of the book, a couple booboos in particular have become apparent. I have decided not to start editing again until February 1st (to give other readers time to respond), but I am going to pick up a couple classics to see how the pros addressed the mistakes I'm making. In particular, I'm going to read Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin and bits of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (Edith Grossman's translation).

Yeehaw!

A little over a year ago I started this blog with the goal of finishing a book. Tonight, I put the 73,026th word on the book's 200th page. Other than some basic housekeeping and the retitling of the 19 chapters, I am done with the book's second draft.

For as happy as I am, I am just as excited about the next project which will begin soon.

Till then, I will continue to post regarding the progress of ACYW so stay tuned.

Thank all of you who have checked in over the last year to cheer me on, provide comments and kick me in the ass. It all paid off.

G'night!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Tuesday, December 23, 2008. The book will be done (or, at least, the second draft will). I have 14 pages to edit and then I'll take a day to give each chapter a name. Looks like I'll clock in at around 195-196 pages and a little over 70,000 words.

It's snowing in New York today and when not editing or sipping hot chocolate, the Counting Crows and I sing A Long December. And I have many reasons to believe this year has been better than the last, if not one of the best.

33 to go and blessing SUVs

Despite distractions (Davidson beating NC State & West Virginia at MSG; the Yanks signing CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett; sugar, booze, birthdays and the beautiful women of NYC), I have only 33 pages of editing to go. 156 of 189 done.

The following appeared in this week's Economist:

'INVEST IN AMERICA', screamed the front page of the Detroit Free Press on December 4th. Copies of the newspaper were sent to Congress, begging for a bailout for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. 'You can help them,' the paper urged, warning: 'And if you don't, make no mistake: there will be bleeding throughout the land.' The prospect of a collapsed car industry was so terrifying that a church in Detroit placed three hybrid SUVs on its altar and prayed for divine intervention."

Ironically, a character in ACYW is a staunchly pro-American reporter for the...Detroit Free Press. So, thank you, DFP, to playing up to my stereotype.

At the same time, I question the "bleeding throughout the land" bit. As I noted before, there have been more casualties from Black Friday (1) this year than from all the financial carnage of September and October's financial meltdown (0). Maybe this fall was too early for people to really comprehend the damage done and the need to revolt or at least protest. Maybe it'll come a little further down the road if things become more dire. I hope not, but right now it's Violent Consumers 1 Public Outrage 0.