science fiction
Earlier this week, I sent off my first query letter to an agent I was recommended by a tutor on one of my writing courses. It’s a daunting experience, trying to capture on a page why they should be interested in your book and in you.
While I didn’t win the $500 prize, I did appear on the short list of seven shortlisted stories, which were also published in full, with feedback. Considering that I didn’t start typing up the story until 5pm on the Sunday night it was due in, I’m very happy with that result!
My latest editing phase is about crunching my word count from 159k to something approaching 140k. Lots of darlings to kill…
I hadn’t realised what a colossal task this editing round would be – after all, I’d already edited it once and knocked off the rough edges – how much more work could it possibly need?
I’m delighted to say I’ve completed the second draft of my novel! I’d hoped to finish this before the end of 2021 but missed it by a few days. The story has crept up to 159 thousand words, filling in gaps I hadn’t been able to work out in the first draft…
Since I last posted, I’ve been on a bit of a writing blitz. In fact, since I posted exactly a month ago, I’ve written the last 32 thousand words of the first draft of my novel, Terra Incognita. It was incredibly exciting to realise last night that I was about to wrap up the last few things I wanted to, and the end was rushing up on me. And then it was there!
I’m hoping that presenting the writing process in such a public way will keep me accountable and on track, as well as providing a useful record to me and any others interested in the process of wrestling a story onto the page, what the end-to-end journey really looks like.