"...everything in life is writable...if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."..... Sylvia Plath

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Digging Deeper

     I know I'm vacillating back and forth, but I honestly don't think that's a bad thing. After all, I'm not in a hurry. I mostly started writing my memoir to see if I could do it and because I simply love the process and activity of writing. When I thought I was finished, after several re-writes, I queried a handful of agents. Several of them requested I send them my MS but that's as far as I got. There were no real takers. Fortunately though, I got valuable feedback. The majority said my writing was good, but the one remark that stood out loud and clear was that I needed to dig deeper.

     OK, so I need to dig deeper. Now that shouldn't be too hard should it? Alas, I was wrong about that. It was very hard. I didn't know where to start. In fact, I was somewhat confused about what that meant and how to do it. I went back to the journals and the how-to books to find the answer. Some were helpful, like Stephen King's and a couple of others, but most were not.

     I finally realized it was up to me to find a way. So I began sitting with a scene for hours, first thinking about it, then picturing it, and finally feeling it, trying to get to the soul of it. I would ask myself How did I feel when this happened? or ...when he of she said this or that to me? I was working on my first three chapters, 'cause those are the ones most agents ask for. I was actually making a modicum of progress, but it was taking forever. Finally, I decided to hire a content editor.

Best idea I've had in a long time. She was great. She pointed out all the places I needed to reveal more about myself, about my feelings, my motives, my thinking and so on. She also included suggestions and asked questions that got me thinking. I printed out all her edits and re-read my first three chapters, referring to her notes and making changes as I went along.

When I finished, I was delighted with the result. My chapters may not be perfect, or even salable ( I'm not a publisher), but the pages have come alive. 

if you enjoyed this post, feel free to leave a comment

6 comments:

  1. I think sometimes someone from the outside sees what we cannot. If anything, the experienced opened your heart and mind. Readers appreciate being in the moment, down and dirty, as it were, with the writer. It's a fine line, but one we writers have to walk.

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    1. Brenda, I can't believe it took me two months to get around to responding to your comment. as we all know, this is a no-no in the rules of blogging...a good way to lose readers. Please forgive me. I love your comments and hope you'll be back to make more. And, of course, you totally get what I'm talking about.

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  2. Hello! I just dropped by to tell you that I have nominated you for the Liebster Award!
    Follow this link for the details:
    www.fortheloveofalicesfamily.com/2013/03/liebster-award-nomination-x2.html

    Have a wonderful day!!!!

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    1. Thanks, Alice. I really do appreciate your nomination. I'm just a little scattered right now, but will get to it soon.

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  3. you are right,
    simply posting your very interesting and easy incomprehensible .. many things that we get through the hard way, but I see you managed to find an important lesson from your thoughts ..

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comments...so glad you enjoyed the post and that it struck a chord in you. Will definitely visit your site.

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