A new ending

I got my new 'climax' for Girl in the Shadows critiqued by the group last Friday, and as always they gave me really useful feedback.

On the weekend I used the feedback to edit the story climax then I got stuck into writing a new ending. Basically, now that the climax has changed, the entire ending has to be rewritten as well.

It's hard to do. I had to force myself to sit at the keyboard and get the words out. But after perservering I wrote about 2500 words, which I suppose is okay for a day's work.

It does drive me a bit crazy that every time I think this manuscript is just about done I find a whole heap more I can do to it. But I know this ending is much stronger because it brings the reader right into the action.

Last Friday we also had a visit from Leonie Tyle, the young adult fiction editor at UQP. She was fantastic (was even polite enough to say she remembered my manuscript Rat City that she rejected back in 2004). She also gave us all a chance to pitch our stories to her, which was a great opportunity. She was interested in all our work and asked some useful questions about our manuscripts. She was particularly interested in the character of Tash's father and the reasons why he did what he did to her.

In terms of what I wanted to achieve from this master's course (good feedback, a writing support group and access to industry professionals) I've already gained much more than I anticipated. It's really helped my development as a writer. And hopefully it will lead to publication (Leonie asked us all to send her our manuscripts when they're ready).

All in all, writing wise, it's been a good week.