The Good and The Bad

I met with Janet Reid on Saturday. Face to face with The Agent. It was... anti-climactic. At first glance.

I was sitting in the reception area after lunch with a few minutes to spare before our meeting, observing the other attendees, absorbing the experience. She came over and asked if I was ready. Sure, ready as I'm gonna be.

We went into a private room with a long table and a sky of natural light. She dropped my pages on the table in front of me and said, "Try not to faint."

I picked them up to take a look. Her blue markings were all over the place. She started talking.

She said my opening sentences were too long. She said start with the second paragraph. She said it needs tightening.

Okay. I can take that.

She pointed out a couple of other problems, such as a lack of a compelling reason for a particular action. Okay, I can see that. Sort of. I thought a reader would take something for granted, but I can see how the action could be given a clear motive. Fair enough.

It seemed to me that she thought she was being more harsh than what I thought she was being. Maybe she's used to wannabe writers who crumble under the critical words of a pro. Maybe she made some early presumptions about me based on meeting me earlier in the day. Maybe I'm dense and couldn't read between the lines. I don't know.

She also said, "You're not a bad writer. No, I take that back. You're a good writer."

Okay, thanks for that.

"You've got all the elements of a good opening." Followed by, "It still needs work."

I put the manuscript down and absorbed the comments, and we talked some more. We talked about writing and writers, and the value of many of the agent and editor blogs. She likes Evil Editor's blog. Who doesn't?

She asked me questions. Where do I live? What do I do for a living? We talked regular people stuff. I shared some personal info, and so did she.

Before I knew it, my thirty minutes were up.

It was upon reflection that I found the real value in the meeting. I took a few days to digest her comments and read her marks and comments on the manuscript.

It does need tightening. How could I have missed the things she pointed out? They seem so obvious to me now.

I played with the first two paragraphs tonight. I shortened the sentences. I moved some things around. What do you know? It's better.

I've also been giving a lot of thought to the story itself. It's no secret to anyone who's read my occassional whinings on here, I've struggled with the outcome. I don't like the plot as it stands. The main character doesn't have enough at stake. He isn't conflicted enough for my liking.

I've decided to start over, and I feel liberated by the decision. I'll keep this story and possibly use some characters and scenes, but I'm making big changes.

The main character is going to be darker, with more inner turmoil. He'll be more tragic. And he'll have personal stakes in the outcome. I thought I could write that subtext into the plot I started with, and maybe I still could, but I'm not sold on the story as the way I'm telling it, so I'm going to create a story I can get my teeth into.

While I noodle the story, I'm researching police and investigative procedures much more deeply than I have to this point. It's fun. Writing cop scenes will be fun.

Back to the conference. A great experience. I met some nice people. I learned a lot.

Shorter sentences. Got it.