It's very nearly the end of the week already. It's been a fast week, it seems. I'm still trying to get a grip on this Ohio weather; one minute, it's 75 degrees out there, the next, it's 38 degrees and I'm shivering. It snowed on Sunday, actually; it was only a brief flurry but it was still bizarre to see it falling on the daffodils and hyacinths. It's such a contrast, the sunny warm flowers and the icy cold precipitation. Naturally, it's a contrast I love.
Aside from the weird weather, it's been an odd week. I've still been going onto the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award message boards just to see if there is any news or interesting posts. At the moment, the conversation is all a little blah. It's still an amazing feeling to be in the quarterfinals; I've been getting some awesome reviews on my excerpt. I have a few from friends and family but there's also some rather generous reviews from complete strangers. When I see that I have another review, my heart always skips a beat as I wonder if it'll be a good one. So far...it's all good. It's a little alarming and yet also feels amazing.
This round in the contest is suppose to be about the reviewers from Publishers' Weekly reading our entire manuscript. That alone gives me a teeny bit of confidence because while the beginning of my novel, the excerpt that is posted, is a good beginning, the action and story takes place right after that introduction. One reviewer said that they felt like I didn't show enough of how my main character was reacting to what was happening to him....the hard part about that is that while it's constructive criticism, that reviewer really needed to read the book to figure out why, exactly, I couldn't let the reader see things from his point of view. He's an interesting character, that's all I'd say and he's not actually what he seems. That becomes clear as the book goes on....I hope.
So, it's a pleasure to read those comments and the feedback people have been kind enough to leave. It's helping me as a writer because I'm getting perspective on how people are reading what I've posted, what they're seeing as opposed to what I see.
I've even done a little reviewing on my own of some of my competition. I'm trying to read excerpts that don't seem to be receiving a lot of attention. As it was before the last round of eliminations, the forums have become something of a popularity contest again. While most of the 'clique' that I blogged about before have cut back on their postings if they even post at all, there's a new inner circle, all pimping their works, trying to get reviews. Some of the excerpts have up to 40 reviews. Mine has nine. Considering, at this point, the reviews are supposed to be for feedback only and votes won't count until the final round, I think that's a respectable amount. I thought I'd be lucky to get one review, to be honest. I'm happy with my nine. I'm really hoping that the rules are true, that Publishers Weekly is judging the works on their own merit, not on who is the best salesperson because some of those folks out there...they can SELL!
(As I side note, as I've read and been told before, I know that at some point, all writers have to be salesmen for their own work. I know marketing is as important as getting published these days. However, at this stage, in the contest, I'm still suffering the delusion that it's still about the writing. If it is a delusion, it's a delusion that helps me get through the day.)
As I've said, some of the excerpts I've read, I've greatly enjoyed. There are some really talented writers in the competition and reading their works is a bit daunting. Stiff competition, it's definitely out there.
I confess, I've checked out a couple of the excerpts with a high-volume of reviews and, well, I didn't leave a review on either. There's a reason for this; a couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion about why you shouldn't leave a 'bitter' review. Several people who were eliminated in the last round were accused of leaving negative reviews because they were bitter. Eventually, this turned into a discussion of whether it was better to leave constructive criticism or none at all. I don't know what the verdict was but I know I slunk away from the forum with the distinct impression that no one was going to say anything really negative because they were likely to be flogged in the forums for it. So rather than leaving a negative review on the popular excerpts, I left nothing. It's not that the popular excerpts are bad per se...they're just...average. Yet they have so many glowing reviews that I started to feel like perhaps I just wasn't getting it and that maybe I was already biased because of their forum postings. Thus, it wasn't right to leave a review that was likely to paint me as 'bitter'.
And I'm not bitter. I'm ecstatic to be included in this round of quarterfinalists. I'm revelling in the 'anniversary' of my notification every Tuesday with a glass of wine or, if I have it, even inexpensive champange. It's my way of toasting my success and reminding myself how blessed and lucky I am to have made it this far. I lurk in the forums but I don't post; I just like to keep up, make sure I'm not missing anything. We have two weeks left before the next round of cuts. I won't lie and say that I don't care if I make it. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be writing posts on my experience in the contest.
I do care. I've made it this far; to keep going...that would be unbelievable. Yet, I'm working myself up, conditioning myself to know that the chances are stronger that I won't make it and, if I don't, I will not wallow. I will not dwell. I got further than ever before and once you get to stand on a ladder, getting back off, even when you're only standing on the bottom rung, seems a little more difficult than before when you've had a brief, shiny look at the sky above
So thanks to anyone reading this if you did review my excerpt...this is not a blog to say "Thanks but it means nothing," it's a blog to say it does mean something...to me. It means that people took the time to read my work, give me feedback and note that they believe in me as a writer. If that's all I get out of being in the quarterfinals...then that is something to which it's worth toasting with a glass of wine.
It's always nice to have an excuse to drink, anyway.
Happy Thursday!
No comments:
Post a Comment