Last week I read through my manuscript, made some notes and then did a scene by scene exercise where I wrote down a brief description of each scene in the manuscript. It didn't take long to get the scenes down - only about three hours - and it's a really useful way to find holes in the manuscript and scenes that are out of time sequence.
The exercise has shown me that I definately need to extend the 'time' of the narrative. Originally, all the action happened within about 10 days, but now with the new scenes I've written, that's not going to be enough. That means I have a couple more new scenes to write to fill in the gaps.
Another thing I noticed that parts of the original manuscript that remain don't have the same tone as the new sections. And that there are some scenes that I really don't need any more.
So, looks like there's one final rewrite to go. And it has to be finished by the end of July to meet the 31 July deadline for the Text Publishing YA competiton. The first prize is a $10,000 publishing contract - now that's enough to get me motivated to finish!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
As Douglas Adams said, "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." Still, a $10K publishing contract is one heck of an incentive.
Not that you need the distraction, but I found your blog on blogcatalog.com and since you're obviously into writing, I wanted to let you know about a new e-zine that me and a few writer friends are putting together.
It's called The Oddville Press.
If you can spare a minute, you should check us out--or better yet, submit something!
Thanks a bunch and good luck with the contest!
Thanks Steph, I'll check it out,
cheers,
Maree
Post a Comment