Back in the Saddle - IWSG March 2017

It's IWSG Day.  The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds. The brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh, our brilliant ninja leader.  To read other members, click here. 

This month’s question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it. Did it work out?

Oh, my. Talk about synchronicity. This month’s question covers a topic I was planning on writing about anyway.  Of course, the modifier “really” as it pertains to old is subjective, but I’m reworking an “old” piece now which is why I’ve been absent from Middle Passages.

Five years ago, I began writing a book I queried in 2015. I did receive some requests for full reads, but that was it, and after sending it out to less than 20 agents, I made the decision to pull the book and let it rest while I moved onto other things. I believed then, as now, that it's a great story, but deep down I knew I hadn’t written it well enough...yet.

Last fall, I returned to it and after giving it a solid edit (it’s amazing what you can find after two years) I invested in my writing career and my book by paying a trusted and talented author/teacher /professional editor to read it and give me feedback.  As I suspected, the book had flaws, but now that they’ve been pointed out to me I’ve challenged myself to fix them and make this book saleable. This, my friends, is why I’ve been absent from Blogger.

I’m focused on reworking the book to eliminate things that slowed the story, to ratchet up the conflict, and to make sure I’m writing in scene. I’ve had other projects that have been for practice, clearly. After a point it’s time to leave them. But I don’t feel that way about this novel. I want it to succeed. For that to happen, I have to dig down as deep as I can, which means other things have to go by the wayside if I want this story to have life beyond my flash drive. 

Jury's still out on whether or not this revisit will end up being worthwhile. While I'm not typing, I keep my fingers crossed.

I'm doing what I've got to do. For those who may have wondered, that's what I’m up to when I’m not here. 

Wishing you all the best!