Friday, March 19, 2010

Spring Break Pact - Achieved my Goals

I'm scheduled to meet shortly with writing buddy Steve Wedel to review the progress we've both made on our novels this week. You'll recall on Monday we both set goals about how much we wanted to get done this week.
I set a very modest goal for myself, aiming for quality rather than quantity. I had hoped to revise 50 pages of Betrayed, my middle grade mystery novel. I was aiming to make my main character be more "emotionally present."
I'm excited to say, I actually ended up 64 pages!
And now, it is time to take a break. I have to slow down and think about what I've written. And ask myself questions: Is this really how this character would behave in this situation? How does she really feel about what's going on? Do the minor events reflect and support the larger events?
I do have an ulterior motive behind all this revision: my ultimate goal for 2010 is to sign with an agent and/or get a book contract. And I intend to put in all the work needed to make that happen.
In the near future, I am attending several conferences where I'll have the opportunity to talk with editors and agents.
The first of these is the Oklahoma SCBWI conference on March 27.
A few months ago, I sent in the opening of Betrayed for a critique from one of the guest speakers. The organizers have arranged for each speaker to have a brief appointment with the two most promising manuscripts from those they critiqued. The competition is fierce - our group has an abundance of talented writers. But if I am lucky enough to get one of those appointments, I want to be able to say that I've made my manuscript the best it can possibly be and the whole thing is worth their time to review.
I'll be blogging more about the SCBWI conference and the other conferences soon. But now, it's time to check in with my pact partner and see how he did this week.