editorial feedback

I received the editorial feedback on my first draft of novel number two yesterday and it was really positive and constructive feedback. I am a little excited about it, though I'm not entirely sure if my delirium is more likely a product of the summer flu that seems to have gripped me tightly in the last 24 hours. (Aside: my throat is so sore, I cannot speak, which IS a disaster!)

While my editor said the draft was not yet publishable (in its current form), she said she really enjoyed reading it and that she thought it was be very appealing for readers of fantasy novels in general especially those interested in mythology(suggesting my target demographic of 18-35 year olds may in fact be too narrow). Another confidence boost for me too was that the scenes I'd written that I really thought I had nailed were scenes she also thought were really well written. It was good to discover my own instincts on quality were reasonable. She said I had a really good ear for dialogue and a strong ability to structure my narrative to tell a good story. And (apparently) I write great sex scenes... All fantastic stuff.

On the constructive side of the ledger, she has gone through the document with a fine tooth comb and provided a tonne of editorial suggestions. Everything from word changes, sentence changes, movement of ideas in and across scenes and paragraphs and chapters and about a half a dozen suggestions for alternative plot developments. All but one of those suggestions have considerable appeal to me even if it will take me several weeks to process the ideas and redraft the novel. I had been hoping to take my draft to the agent by the end of January but I just don't think it is feasible given the amount of redrafting I need to do.

Still, I continue to feel really positive about the year that is to come. Don't really know why. There's just something about 2011 that feeds my optimism and drives me to want to spring forward even if it is bounding into the unknown. Reminds me of a passage from a poem called “Committed” (by anonymous):

There’s always going to be some people
who are willing to take a leap.
Just dive off a cliff with everything they’ve got
and hope for the best.
What can you say about these people?
Are they stupid?
Or are the brave?
Are they crazy?
Or are they just very very lucky?
I guess it is one of those things
you can look at either way.

I am so ready to take a leap.