The Novel Challenge Hub

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Good to hear from you again, Sky Warrior!

My husband and his youngest sister are on the road visiting the scenic spots here in the Pacific Northwest, so I get a writing retreat! Which means I'm going a little faster than my usual slow and steady.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

amergina

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*staggers in after months and months*

I finished my novel tonight. Now to clean it up and ship it out!

:e2thud:
 

Eliza C

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Slowly working my way through the various threads since discovering W1S1. I need a kick on this one.

Wrote my second novel to goal, 8 months from start to 'final' draft, then waited for the last of the beta reader feedback... then stalled. Pretty much, the last of the beta readers weighed in about 6 weeks ago. I've futzed with my query for a month but am having a hell of a time getting around to starting those final re-writes. Somebody kick me, please.
 

Siri Kirpal

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Okay, Eliza......KICK!

Why don't you get your post count up to 50, then post your query in the Query Letter Hell section of Share Your Work, ditto with posting your first chapter in the relevant section of Share Your Work. And get your post count up by critiquing other people's posts in the relevant sections of Share Your Work. That may help get you in an editorial mode.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Eliza C

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Okay, Eliza......KICK!

Why don't you get your post count up to 50, then post your query in the Query Letter Hell section of Share Your Work, ditto with posting your first chapter in the relevant section of Share Your Work. And get your post count up by critiquing other people's posts in the relevant sections of Share Your Work. That may help get you in an editorial mode.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

That's actually how I ended up here, though I'm glad now to have found this W1S1 forum. I have run my query by some of my writing friends but one suggested the "share your work" forum here on AW. I'd been a member for nearly 2 years but hardly ever signed on, so I did't even know there was a SYW area on AW. I plan to post my query in Query Hell at some point, but I'm glad I found W1S1 along the way - it's both motivating to write more and good for commiserating on rejections.
 

soapdish

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Just popping in to report that I finished my rough draft. 77k. Right about on time, too. I will surely need the next 6 mos. for edits, but I'm feeling pretty good about it now.

I will likely not be back until then. :hi:

Talking about my progress too much (or lack there of at times) seems to put me in some sort of creative funk. :Shrug:

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Keep up the hard work!
 

Eliza C

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Congrats! That's huge to finish a novel - whether you've done it before or not - and kudos for completing it to goal. Good luck with the subsequent drafts.
 

mrajotte

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Added an additional 9000+ words to my novel, so it now stands at just over 63K. Slowly but surely whittling away at my list of scenes. Some days are easier than others :)
 

Sarah G

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Hey guys:D

Keep forgetting to post here:poke:

My first Novel is on hold at the moment, at about 22,000 while I do NaNo;) Hopefully I can pick it up after.

Speaking of NaNo, I'm so far behind:cry:but determind to catch up:) { I caught up last November when I lost about 15k after breaking my netbook screen so I know I can lol} Might have to pull some all nighters, think chocolate is in order:)

On other news I have an interview next week;) so crossing my fingers I get it. It's the first reply I have had to any jobs that I've sent out for months:D Woot!!!

Now back to the writing;)
 

Eliza C

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In case anybody feels in the mood to shred a query letter, I've just posted the query for my second novel in Query Hell here at AW, under "A Borrowed Hell query - contemporary fantasy, adult."

Any feedback would be appreciated.
 

Project Deadlight

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Hey all,

I'm about to start sending out queries for my novel. It's a literary comedy in a Nick Hornby/roddy Doyle mould. Anyone got any tips on writing a synopsis? Also, any hints or tips on UK agents?

Thanks!
 

Siri Kirpal

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Good work, Project Deadlight! I believe there's a thread on writing synopses in Query Letter Hell. You can have yours vetted there once you've written it.

Can speak for agents in the UK.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Eliza C

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Hey all,

I'm about to start sending out queries for my novel. It's a literary comedy in a Nick Hornby/roddy Doyle mould. Anyone got any tips on writing a synopsis? Also, any hints or tips on UK agents?

Thanks!

Yep, Query Hell, under Share Your Work, would be a good place to start. I've been spending a lot of time in there the past few days working on my query (again!). There are 'stickies' at the top of the forum that have advice on both queries and synopses and links to more info. Don't know about UK agents. Not sure how many agents Agent Query.com lists outside the US. AW has a section under publishing for agent info, though. Might find a thread there.

Good luck with submitting your queries.
 

mrajotte

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Well, I'm not sure how it happened, but after struggling all day yesterday to eke out 1800 words, I broke through some sort of wall and managed to hit just over 5K total for the day. Wow! That was great.

Hoping I can do it again today (after some much needed caffeine!)

How's everyone else doing with their novels?
 

Siri Kirpal

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Good work, mrajotte!

I'm plugging away. There's a chance I'll be done (pre-edits) in 2 weeks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

sky warrior books

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I'm still around, just not sure what in the hell I'm doing.

I went to Denver Comiccon last weekend and in the middle of it all, ended up with a migraine and dehydrated enough to go to the emergency room.:flag: :crazy:

Honestly, I was drinking water. REALLY. I've lived in Colorado before and live in Montana now, so I know what altitude does to you.

One of my writers covered for me in the booth. Bless him. :Hug2:We made lots of contacts and I found some artists I so desperately want to work for us. I learned some things about the market and even sold some books. So, it was a good convention.

Started back into writing again. Waaay too far behind on everything.
 

sky warrior books

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Hey all,

I'm about to start sending out queries for my novel. It's a literary comedy in a Nick Hornby/roddy Doyle mould. Anyone got any tips on writing a synopsis? Also, any hints or tips on UK agents?

Thanks!

A synopsis should give the agent/editor an idea of the plot so that they know you can write a satisfying and coherent story. There are books on how to write a synopsis, but most I've seen done properly are somewhere between 3 and 12 pages. Be judicious in your character introductions. Keep them limited to not drown the editor in names. Good luck!