Revise Again: The Importance of Feedback
Photo by Christy V.
As you may have noticed, I’ve recently completed my third NaPoWriMo during Camp NaNoWriMo – April 2021. I was able to write 30 poems in 30 Days. As they have been published on my blog, I’ve been able to get feedback on them in different ways from viewership to comments. Even though I have them on here, I hope someday to create a chapbook of my favorite poems from these challenges, with some revision and edits if needed, and more of my original photos. That’s something that I can do with self-publishing. While I could try to traditionally publish my poems, they would have to be ones that I haven’t posted, but I really feel like my poems are something that I can and want to self-publish.
Whereas some of my other writing, I’ve been trying to work towards traditional publishing. While I want to see what my options are, I’ve found that the process has provided me opportunities to receive necessary feedback. First through querying, I learned about my first pages and the order of my manuscript wasn’t quite the right order. Next, I received the opportunity to get a bit of novel editor feedback, through #RevPit. I had received feedback before querying, but it wasn’t from professional novel editors. In this process, even though I didn’t win #RevPit, I received some feedback on what needed to be improved in more micro level. It also made me realize that I still have more left to go to revise and edit my manuscript before I can continue on the path of publishing.
I’ve continued to ponder the self-publishing path. I know that I could do it, but would my writing be good enough to publish? This is one of the reasons why I keep leaning towards traditional publishing because I need to make sure my novel work is done well. I don’t want to publish too soon and then it doesn’t go well because I published too soon. Some might say that I’ve queried too soon, but I needed feedback, and I needed to learn the traditional process. I wouldn’t change that. Now where is my next step? I need to revise again, but in the micro level. Macro was making sure everything was in the right order, and seeing what I could expand in the overall plot. Now I need to expand with description as to provide a bridge to my future readers. Remove words that tell versus show. It’s things that I’ve struggled with my writing.
Now I know the steps to move forward, and to improve my writing skills, I’m researching on how to improve in these areas. I hope it will benefit me beyond my hopeful debut novel. In the process of researching, I’m finally reading Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. As it has been recommended to me countless of times, but I finally got through part of it and realized that there are some things that would be helpful for me. I still feel like there are better writers that could provide better guidance than Stephen King. I’ll continue to go through his book as it was recommended to me to improve my writing, but I still search else where for more information to improve as well.
I’ve recently received opportunity to work with a professional editor. Her first step is to submit my first pages revised to her, as to get a better idea of her editing services before moving forward. So I plan on revising those pages first. Then I’ll see where it goes. Either way. I will go through my manuscript in a few passes to work on each areas that need improvement, and then move towards publishing.
Besides this, I also hope to work on more short stories and poems this year. Maybe some script writing. No matter what, I want to make sure that I keep working towards sharing my writing in some way. At the same time, I need to take care of myself. It’s been tough lately to write with my health, but thankfully I’ve done steps to improve my health as well as what I can do to improve writing progress, thanks to Shana Ronayne’s Writing through the Fog: Techniques for Outwitting Brain Fog and Reclaiming Our Writing Lives. It’s a process that I need to keep doing to stay on track with my progress.
Even with all that, I need to keep reading. As a writer, I’ll improve more as I read, and support fellow writers, but also remind me why I write. I hope to read more the rest of this year. My current reading list and to-read list continues to grow. So you know I’ll be reading as much as I can. Including finishing reading Paula Yoo’s From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry, and Tashkent Bhuiyan’s Counting Down with You. I need to schedule my time to do everything I want to do with what I need to do, including my part-time and volunteer work.
Finally, I want to add, I watched Jeremy Jordan’s streaming 54 Below show, ‘Carry On,’ yesterday. His personal truthful storytelling through words and spellbinding music really inspired me not only personally, but as a writer. If he can share his truth in such a way, I can share my work and make it just as an incredible experience for others. I’m excited for his future work, and can’t wait to see what else he inspires me to do. He’s one of the people that I wouldn’t be who I am without. He continues to make me proud to live his hometown.
I’ll continue to do my best to update my blog as much as I can. I hope you’ll keep coming back to follow my journey, and any writing I feel like sharing. Thanks for all the support, especially from my family and friends. I will always love to write, but you help me keep going beyond my writing. That will always matter to me. I hope to support you all, as much as I can, when I can.
