Draft Zero to Writing Hero Chapter VII: Querying and Revising - Again
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| [Image: My Hermes Baby typewriter with text "Draft Zero to Writing Hero"] |
Chapter VII: Querying and Revising - Again
With NaNoWriMo over and done, I was t i r e d. The process of writing this manuscript had been extremely intense, and I was more worn out than I had expected. I decided to let the manuscript rest for a month or so, and when January 2019 came around, I decided it was time for everybody's favorite step in the writing process: revisions.
Yaaay.
Yaaay.
[GIF: Person in a flower costume dancing with text "Aww YEAH!"]
After dragging myself to my laptop rereading what I'd written, I realized that it wasn't terrible. Some sections were actually in good shape, and some parts that felt like utter trash while I was writing them weren't nearly as bad as they had seemed at the time. Once I finished the reread, though, I wasn't sure exactly what to do. My YA fantasy had needed intense structural work - I basically had to tear it down and rebuild it from scratch - but this manuscript just needed a remodel, and I didn't know how to do that. I vented to one of my CPs, and she came through for me once more by suggesting that I write a reverse outline.
With my reverse outline written, I set about doing my revisions. My partner, Qiren, had given me a lot of information to write the first draft, so I got his thoughts on each new draft as well, and he had a lot of feedback that made it into the manuscript. Though he's not a writer, I couldn't have written this without him, his voice, and his experiences. Ultimately, I went through four drafts before settling on a final version:
[GIF: Lilly Singh saying "Say what now?"]
I'd never heard of this mysterious "reverse outline" creature, but fortunately, my CP filled me in. You know how sometimes writers make an outline before they write a manuscript, the kind of thing that has all the major and supporting plot points? Well, making a reverse outline is the same thing - only the manuscript is already written. By going back through the manuscript and making an outline of the way the manuscript actually unfolded, it can be much easier to see how scenes play out and determine how to rearrange events. Here's an excerpt from the reverse outline I wrote while rereading my first draft:
[Image: Reverse outline from draft one of GIRLS BREAK THINGS]
In my reverse outline, I noted the major plot points as well as things they influenced, like character reactions that would be important later or information this plot point brought out. Then I added notes to myself about revisions I wanted to make or "way to go!" comments on scenes that I thought were particularly good.With my reverse outline written, I set about doing my revisions. My partner, Qiren, had given me a lot of information to write the first draft, so I got his thoughts on each new draft as well, and he had a lot of feedback that made it into the manuscript. Though he's not a writer, I couldn't have written this without him, his voice, and his experiences. Ultimately, I went through four drafts before settling on a final version:
- Draft One - What I wrote during NaNoWriMo
- Draft Two - Revised based on my reverse outline, then sent to CPs for notes
- Draft Three - Revised based on CP notes, then sent to sensitivity reader
- Draft Four - Revised based on sensitivity reader notes, polished, and made ready for querying
At that point, I pretty much had my final draft ready to go! Buuuuut, that meant it was time to put together my query package, a whole other beast. (Why is it that even when you're done, you're not really done...?) When I was querying my YA fantasy, I struggled to figure out how much of the plot to include in the query letter. Part of that stemmed from the fact that I had seven POVs, but...anyway. The experience of having written and rewritten those query letters was very helpful in formatting the letters for this work, a YA contemporary romance. I landed on a format that went something like this:
All in all, my query was about three-quarters of a page, including my introduction and sign-off. I submitted my query to The Book Doctors on a whim and it was randomly selected to be read and critiqued for NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza 2019 (starts around 1:31:55), which was super helpful because it addressed the strengths and weaknesses of my query letter. I combined that with some CP feedback and worked through a few drafts before I felt my query letter was absolutely ready to go.
- Summary Paragraph One: Introduces the main character, the world, the stakes, and the inciting incident. Ends around the end of Act One, when the MC makes some specific choice that defines the rest of the story.
- Summary Paragraph Two: Summarizes the consequences of the choice the MC makes at the end of Act One. Ends approximately where Act Two ends, when the MC has to give up on their previous want and adjust, or continue to struggle toward something they will never achieve. Last sentence is a "cliffhanger."
- Metadata: Contains all the info about my manuscript - the title, length, genre, and relevant hashtags (#OwnVoices, #BlackGirlMagic, etc.) along with comp titles. Comp titles are in ALL CAPS, and I also like to mention why I'm using them ("the political intrigue of SHADOWCASTER meets the love triangle of LIKE A LOVE STORY"). Mentions why I'm querying this agent in particular ("your bio mentioned an interest in books like the TV show REIGN").
- Bio: All about me - my background, education, why I'm qualified to write this, why I'm passionate about this story.
All in all, my query was about three-quarters of a page, including my introduction and sign-off. I submitted my query to The Book Doctors on a whim and it was randomly selected to be read and critiqued for NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza 2019 (starts around 1:31:55), which was super helpful because it addressed the strengths and weaknesses of my query letter. I combined that with some CP feedback and worked through a few drafts before I felt my query letter was absolutely ready to go.
[GIF: Kristen Bell with a taser with text "I'm good to go."]
The synopsis, though, was still hard. One problem that was extremely evident with the synopsis for my YA fantasy was that I mentioned way too many characters, so this time, I settled on just four: the main character, the love interest, the antagonist, and a side character who played a major role in the end of the manuscript. Having my reverse outline was also beneficial, since I was able to use that as an outline for my synopsis. I ended up with a two-page synopsis that didn't change much once I had the first draft done.Now I was on to the tricky part...the title. Yeah, I know, but even after all this, I still didn't have a title that I liked. I wanted to call this manuscript something like GIRL DECONSTRUCTED or TECHNICALLY or ROBOT + GIRL = LOVE, but none of them felt right. So I asked myself, "Okay, what is this manuscript about? What is the core of this story?" And that's when it came to me: it was about girls breaking things. And the title would absolutely have to be...GIRLS BREAK THINGS.
With my final draft formatted and my query package ready, just like with my YA fantasy manuscript, I made a Google Sheets spreadsheet of all the agents I wanted to query. And, because I'm a completionist, I made that spreadsheet by looking at every agent on QueryTracker who had an interest in YA contemporary romance and LGBTQ+ - and I noted who I particularly washed to work with.
This time, I was mentally fortified for querying. I was able to send five or so queries at once without having to throw up (or do shots beforehand). I queried more specifically and in a more concentrated way, where every round of queries was a particular category of agent I was interested in working with.
This time, I was mentally fortified for querying. I was able to send five or so queries at once without having to throw up (or do shots beforehand). I queried more specifically and in a more concentrated way, where every round of queries was a particular category of agent I was interested in working with.
And with all of that work done, I queried for a little less than two months before...well. You'll have to read on to find out.
[GIF: Black screen with text "To be continued..." that fades to static]
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