I am writing my first book at the ripe old age of 17. It's a book about my experience with cancer. I had three surgeries in 2012. All is well now.
In terms of my book, I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'm trying to make the book good, yet use my own voice in it. Everyone here is such an incredible writer, and I feel like I need to live up to that. I know the subject of my book is sensitive, but I want to get my story out there so that people can know my story and be inspired by it. When I was featured in the "Overcoming Adversity" book in February 2013, I received a lot of positive feedback. I'm hoping to do the same with this book!
Right now, I am looking for someone to help me with the writing process, specifically critiquing it. I want to make sure that my writing is as good as it can be. Please comment below if you'd be interested in helping me with this.
Ps- What on earth is 'querying'??
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy you are a brave soul. Enjoyed the post, but sorry I can't help. I'm really not one of those incredible writers you mentioned. The are, however, lots of them here. Hope they stop by and give you a hand.
All the best.
Hi Morgan!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing your book! That's quite an accomplishment. As far as looking for critique partners and beta readers (readers who read your entire ms at one time and provide comprehensive feedback vs a critiquer, someone who reads a portion of your ms and offers their opinion), I would recommend you check out other writing blogs, and approach writers whose work you respect and ask if you could critique or beta read for each other. (Note: it is common courtesy to reciprocate the favor when someone reads your work.) You can also post a message that you're looking for a reading buddy on the IWSG FB page. Additionally online writing communities like Figment have forums where you can meet people and critique each others' work.
A query is comparable to a cover letter for a resume, but tailored to explain/extoll the virtues of your book. You can find some great information on how to write a query here: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/blog-page.html
Some people say that writing a query is the most difficult part of writing because you need to distill everything you want to say about yourself and your book to one page. A query is different from a synopsis. A synopsis is a brief play-by-play of your book.
I hope you find those writing resources helpful!
Best of luck with your book!
--December IWSG co-host
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteWhat Kim said. There are a lot of sites listed at the IWSG site that can help you with querying and getting your manuscript polished.