Sharing My "Baby" (the detailed progress update!)

I’ve been pretty philosophical in recent posts (and will be again!), so I figured a real progress update was in order for a change.  The last one I did shared that editing the second draft is much harder than writing the first draft, as it’s a much more skilled task. 

A decisive moment in that process came when I got a few days holiday in America back in March.  It gave me the time and space to lay my book out in chapters - each with a post-it summarising what happens in that section - to look at its structure and progress. 

What a simple but powerful act that was!  Possibly it would be for any writer but because I’m such a visual person, seeing it like this meant I instantly understood how it fitted together and where it didn't work.  It enabled me to iron out various issues with the manuscript – especially with its timings.  So, just before the Easter holidays I completed the second draft and printed it out to give to a couple of families (as well as mine) to read and critique. 

Sharing my “baby” was a scary thing!  I've kept it close to my chest since its conception, and no one has read more than about a page of it so far.  But despite the fact I’m such a perfectionist and my own harshest critic, I needed external feedback before I could take it much further.  So I handed over the manuscripts.  And then waited with great fear and trepidation!

I expected the feedback from Jeannie, my writing accountability partner, to be tough. After all, she's a writer and she would be able to pick weak points apart. So I was flabbergasted and thrilled that it was really positive and encouraging.  She made me believe that I actually might be able to do this!  There were plenty of suggestions for tweaks, but overall her and her kids had loved it. Especially - and most importantly - her 8 year old son (the book is aimed at 7-10 year olds, especially boys)!

With the second lot of feedback, I’d foolishly asked my friends to be extremely critical – mainly coz I thought they’d be too nice otherwise – and so it was own fault that I got what I asked for!  It was a painful, but powerful lesson for me about how to ask for feedback.  It’s just as important to ask people what they like and what they think works, as well as what they don’t like and what doesn’t work.  Without the positive stuff it’s too easy to feel demoralised and want to use the manuscript to light a fire that evening!

I also learnt that while feedback from anyone can be helpful, it’s particularly effective if you’re careful who you ask too.  What the target audience think is key.  One of my 12 year old son’s first comments when I asked him for feedback was “It’s not exactly The Hunger Games, is it?”  Er no, sweetheart, it isn’t meant to be :-S  Feedback from a 12 year old girl was that it wasn’t her cup of tea, but she could see that 7-10 year old boys might like it.  That’s not to say that these kids’ opinions aren’t useful, but they're unlikely to be as valuable as feedback from the specific target audience.

Feedback is also subjective and I’m now working through it, deciding what I’ll change on the basis of it and what I won’t.  That can be very complicated though.  For example, the age-appropriateness of language I use at times was one thing flagged up.  To some extent I agree with those comments and have made a few changes.  BUT, I also examined the language used in books like “How To Train Your Dragon” and David Walliams’ “Billionaire Boy” and became completely confused.

“HTTYD” is sometimes defined as being for 7-10 year olds and sometimes for 8-12 year olds.  They’re actually quite different categories and represent a massive range of reading abilities!  The book contains some fabulous words, including many that wouldn’t fit into the recommended guidelines for a 7-10 year old age range.  So, aside from the wonderful but challenging Viking names, we also find “preposterously” on the first page, “initiation” on the second and “cacophony” on the fifth.

In “Billionaire Boy” (a similarly confusing age-categorised book) we also have “preposterously” on the second page, as well as “masseuse” on the third and “palatial” not long after.

So, yes, there are generally accepted norms, but rules are always made to be broken and it can be fun to see what you can get away with.  I love all these words!  Also, kids always need a few new or difficult words.  If it’s in context it can be figured out.  If not, then you can ask someone else, or just get on and not let that one word detract from all the other thousands of words in the book.  It’s about balance and getting that right is my current challenge.

Having your word critiqued is tough!  I doubt it ever gets easier either, but I’m desperately hoping I never get a review like this one of Dan Brown’s new novel.  I don’t care how many books you’ve written or how many millions you have – to be taken apart in such a shrewd and public way, albeit brilliant as well, has still got to hurt.

I’m now working on the third edit of the manuscript – this may seem like a never-ending process to you non-writers out there but allegedly seven (yes, seven!) drafts is the norm.  I’m hoping for four edits, maximum five (please!)!

P.S. Jeannie’s feedback also raised an interesting big issue which I'll explain in more detail in a few days… ;-)

Challenging or Crippling?

Comparing yourself, or your work, to someone else can be challenging (in a good way) or it can be crippling.  On the positive side, it might bring out your competitive edge and push you on to do better or achieve more.  Often though, comparison can quickly cause a whole gamut of negative emotions to come into play.   

One of the biggest obstacles I've faced recently is not being crushed by comparing myself to others - in this context as a writer, but I'm good at doing it in general too!  It's easy to forget that I can choose how I respond.

I’ve been re-reading some of the best kids’ books out there, in order to look at their openings, character development, structure, etc. so that I can get some hints and tips for improving my second draft.  It’s so easy to end up feeling seriously inferior in the face of that though and “How To Train Your Dragon” has been the worst culprit!  If I could write like anyone else then it would be Cressida Cowell (or JK Rowling or Suzanne Collins too, but let’s not go there).

I know that I need to let her impressive writing spur me on to write the very best book I can myself, yet it would be too easy to take the path of letting the comparison not only cripple me, but crush me to the point that I decide I could never be as good as her and give up completely.  

I even feel like that with this blog!!  A couple of friends have recently started new blogs and they're way better than mine already (imho), especially as they’re posting in and promoting their blogs much more than me - I don’t even remember to tag my posts or advertise their existence on Twitter most of the time!  I’d give you the links if I were a better person, but I’m not, hahahahaha*.  They’ve already caused me to wrestle with the temptation not to bother writing mine anymore.

So why do I bother writing this blog or books at all?  I guess I feel, like most writers, that I have thoughts and stories I want to share and, while at times they may be similar to other people’s, they are nevertheless unique because they’re told with my voice.  They may not be as good – that’s for a publisher and the public to ultimately decide – but they’re still something that no one apart from me can say.  I can't write like Cressida Cowell (my life is too boring for a start, compared to hers!) but even if I could then I wouldn't get published coz she already is and people want something fresh and new to read, not a lesser imitation.

I will always be second best at being someone else so I may as well just write my blog and my books, in my way and my voice, to the very best of my ability and see what happens :-)  And that holds true for whatever you do too!

*Oh go on then, here they are.  http://confessionsofanamerican.com/ is the website/blog of my amazing writing accountability partner Jeannie – full of funny cross-cultural comments, writing thoughts and powerful insights into human trafficking.  http://markrushworth.me/ is the new blog of one of my church elders – Ordinary Guy, Extraordinary God (The Musings of a British Church Leader) – and contains a particularly good post on Oscar Pistorius “Fallen Heroes”.  The one on "Freedom From Self-esteem" was posted while I was drafting this post and is clearly something I need to get more of a handle on, LOL!