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It’s been an exciting month here in the storage room. I signed a contract with Light Messages Publishing to publish the book I have been working on for the last five years. This was a novel that I have suffered repeated waves of insecurity about. I think the revisions I am working on right now are draft number 17. It has gone through multiple points of view; first person to third person and back again; and revision after revision. I took it through the whole beta reader process and thought I had it finished. Now I am revising again. On top of that, I apparently have no idea how to use a comma or ellipsis. This is not a good thing for the self-confidence. All week I have doubted if I know what I am doing at all.
Have you ever been in a similar place with one of your projects? What happened?
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Scribbling In The Storage Room 
Perfect post, Elizabeth! Nothing like rewriting to deflate the ego.
Oh, I’m in the same spot with my novel going on 4 years! Congrats on the contract! Details on the book?
Congratulations on the contract!
Congrats on the publishing contract! That’s wonderful!
Congrats! This line drew an immediate laugh-out-load out of me: “I apparently have no idea how to use a comma or ellipsis.” And the conclusion that follows sure is the natural result: “All week I have doubted if I know what I am doing at all.”
Absolutely can relate to that over and over again. It’s no small task to expect to be a writer and a decent editor all at once. How high the moon.
Be kind to yourself and never lose that sense of humor about it all!
I’m just considering rewriting a story I love (but no one else did) in 1st rather than 3rd person. You did that–how hard was it? Do you mind sharing?
Jacqui,
It was more time consuming than difficult. I essentially had to rewrite the entire book so it was only through Lara’s eyes. Surprisingly, the plot did change a bit. I was able to put a bit more backstory in and make it more organic with the story. Overall, it was a good experience, albeit painful. In the future, I will try writing a chapter or two from 1st and 3rd POV’s early on in the drafting process. Another thing I have learned is to do more pre-writing before I sit down to do the first draft.
That’s a good idea–write in both persons to see which comes out more authentically. I like that. Thanks.
Congratulations on the contract. Rewrites sounds hard but at least you’re there!
Congrats!!
Congrats on the book. You’ll make it!
Thanks, Marilyn. It’ll be okay.
I love that. Apparently, I am comma challenged as well. I think, how can I be so inept at something my 10 year old nephew is a master at.
I feel your pain, Sydney. At one point over the weekend, I was tempted to bludgeon myself with the Chicago Manual of Style. The rule that stymies me is when to put a comma in front of a preposition. It never looks right to me in front of a ‘but’.
Yes I have! I mean I have been working on a novel for the same amount of time and for some reason it feels incomplete.
Massive congratulations on the contract !