Yep, that’s right! This past Thursday I sent off the first three chapters plus a synopsis to Tor for them to consider! It was all part of the English 318 final. And…I’m not exactly sure how I feel about sending it out just yet…
I’m actually kind of counting on them rejecting it, to be honest. Now that I’m at the very end, I can tell that this novel isn’t quite up to par with the kind of stuff that I like to read. It feels a bit like a beginner’s novel, and it really does need a rewrite.
It would be quite scary if they actually did accept it, because I’d have to send out the manuscript to them ASAP, and it really isn’t ready. Fortunately, the chances of me getting accepted on my first submission are so astronomically small that I think I’m safe.
Also, I feel like I was rushed to get that stuff out, and I’m not sure how much the quality of the piece was compromised.
First of all, I wasn’t able to rename the title, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a while.
Second, I had only four hours to write the synopsis. It was very matter-of-fact this-is-what-happens without much selling or propping up in it, and I didn’t have time to edit it extensively. Practically the whole thing was written in passive voice, which won’t help I’m sure. I really have no idea how to write a synopsis. Fortunately, I did keep it under the ten page limit…barely.
Third, now that I’ve had time to work through the first three chapters, I really do feel that they’re too slow, too mundane, or just…missing something. I don’t really know what, but I feel that the beginning of this book should be much stronger. Perhaps it’s too distant from the main character. Perhaps I’m too distant from the main character. The thing that hooked me on this story was the world, not the characters. If anything, Leila was the character who interests me the most–but she doesn’t show up until chapter four. Blegh.
If you want to read the first two chapters and tell me what you think, you can find them on my Quark livejournal. Just send me a friend request, and let me know who you are first.
Anyways, now that I’m coming up on the end of this novel, things are getting a lot harder than I’d anticipated. I’d hoped to be finished with this chapter by now, but it took longer than I’d anticipated, and I’m at least 1,500 words from the end. After that, I’ll have to write one last chapter to bring everything to a close, so we’re looking at between 6,000 to 10,000 words before this draft is finished.
Now that I’m here, the ending is not quite as awesome as I thought it would be. In fact, I think that if I’d planned it out better, it would be much stronger than it is. As it is, I feel like I’m throwing things together at the last minute, and it’s not coming together as well as I’d like. For the next novel I write, I’m going to have to figure out a good ending before I write it, and set out with that ending in mind.
I think I can still do it, though. I’ve got an exam tomorrow (or I can take it Wednesday if I don’t feel ready), and a short one on Tuesday. Wednesday night there’s going to be this awesome CESA party over at Zach’s house, and Thursday my sister Sarah is getting married (!!!). I’ve got cleaning checks on Friday, plus packing, putting stuff in storage, plus the phone and the car to figure out…
…but I think I can do it and still finish this novel. Exams are really only going to take up the next two days, and everything else shouldn’t be too bad. I’ve already packed most of my stuff, and it’s only going to take a few hours each day to figure everything else out. If I can just focus and crunch on this novel, I can finish it by Friday at midnight, which is the personal deadline I set for myself.
And then, everything is going to be completely behind me, and I’ll be on the other side of the world!
