Why?
One word: NaNoEdMo.
NaNoEdMo may not be an actual word, but it has everything to do with words. It stands for National Novel Editing Month, and basically, the goal is to get up to 50 hours of editing logged in by the end of March. It's a somewhat similar idea to NaNoWriMo, which is writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Since I'm pretty excited about my NaNo 09 Novel, I thought I would have a go at editing it in the month of March (which is only five days away!).
And this is where you come in.
I need readers who are willing to read a novel with a critical eye, and help point out weak areas, things that don't make sense, parts that could be improved. (Not just the fluffy "Oh it's so great, such an awesome book!") Are you interested? Think you can do it? Here's some background on my novel so you can know what you're getting into. My novel is titled "Rescue My Heart", and just shy of 200 pages. It's a fantasy-esque story about a 13-year-old writer named Anna, who goes into the world of her story. Here's a little excerpt from my novel to pique your interest.
Anna looked up from her writing, teary-eyed. Her heart was pounding, and she knew she was walking on dreaded ground. This was where she needed to stop, before she began feeling the pain she knew was buried deep inside. This story, like all the other ones, was starting to tug too hard at her heartstrings. What if it made them break? She had thought that she was safe, but somehow, someway her story had twisted itself around to fit her heart. Dare she go further?
She set her teeth. She would close the book, and forget about it and her characters. After all, they were only figments of her imagination… their story wasn’t important. She could just close the book and bury it, just like she had done with all her other books which had come to this point. She would bury it deep, just like she had done with her mother’s death. That way she could still function. There would be no pain.
But when she glanced back at the page, Anna’s heart melted at the princess’ last words. “Will no one rescue me?”
Anna sighed deeply and scrunched her eyes shut. She knew she had to move on. Even though she hated the thought of having to expose her heart. Her story deserved to be written. Even if it hurt. There was no backing away from the pain now.
Anna opened her eyes slowly, willing her heart to stop its frantic beating. Then she took a deep breath, and set pen to paper. As she did so, the tear that had been held back in her eyes slid down her cheek. It dripped onto the page, right onto the word “rescue”.
And before she knew where she was, Anna was actually in the place that she had always dreamed of: the world of her story.
So, if you'd like to read my novel and critique it, please leave me a comment with your email so I can send it to you. Rest assured, I won't publish your comment with your email unless you're okay with that. I can also give you some guidelines for critiquing when I send you the novel. And if you're doing NaNoEdMo too, be sure to let me know so we can do this together!
Thank you so very much! You guys are awesome!
12 vivid thoughts:
That's wonderful that you are still working on your NaNo novel! Mine is at 62,000 words and I haven't touched it at all lately... Oops.
Wow, I've been working on a story outline lately for a girl who goes into the world of the book she's writing too! Great minds think alike!
I really would like to read and critique your work. I too grow frustrated by fluffiness and I would like to help in any way that I could.
Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time right now. You could send it to me, but I can't guarantee that I'll have a chance to read it. I'll do my best, but please be understanding if I don't get back to you right away.
You can find my email on the Contact section of the Literary Ladies website.
Forever in Christ,
Cassie
Agh...I would SO love to do it...but I have absolutely no spare time. Oh, dear...perhaps in the summer?
Love & Blessings,
--Hannah
Cassie: That's awesome that we're writing similar stories! It's a pretty cool concept, isn't it?
Hannah: That's okay! If you wait to read it in the summer, hopefully it'll be better by then. ;)
Yes, I realize it's probably a busy time for a lot of people. If it makes it any easier, I could just send you sections at a time so you wouldn't have to do the whole thing at once. I also have it up on googledocs, so you could read it on there and write in comments and such. Let me know what you'd like to do!
And thanks SO much! :D
~Melody
Oh, you're doing Nanoedmo too? Cool! I tried it last year but didn't get the required amount of editing done. So I'm going to try it again. I have two novels to edit, so... I'll be busy!
Your novel sounds intriguing, and I love the excerpt. However, I'm sorry that I can't read/critique it right away, because in less than a week I'm going down to Florida for the Florida Christian Writers Conference, and I'm frantically getting ready for that! (And after that is EdMo, of course!) I'd love to help you out, though. Maybe when I get back I can read it. :)
Hi Melody!
That is awesome! I've always wanted to write a novel, but never took the time to do it. Anyway, if you trust me, I would love to read and critique your novel! I've never critiqued anything besides essays that my brothers or sisters wrote, but I would like to try! ;-) I'll have to warn you, though, I have a very critical eye. :) Do you need it critiqued by a certain time? Just let me know, so I can set aside enough time to get it done by whenever you need!
If I could try using the googledoc first, that would be great. We have satellite, so it's kind of hard for us to receive large e-mail files.
-Nicole
Hi Melody! As I've told you before, I love that excerpt. Like everyone else has said, I have little/no time... However I love critiguing (and I hate it because it is so hard to tell friends they need to completely rewrite or else just scrap the whole idea which is sometimes true) and I love your story idea sooooooo I'll do it. Googledocs would work well for me. I find I like being able to write my comments directly into the document. I don't know how much I'll be able to read and comment on, but I'll do what I can. :) Thank you so much for this opportunity, though!
I'll comment again with my email address--I just want to make *sure* it won't publish. :)
Evergreena: That's cool that you're doing NaNoEdMo too! This is my first year, so we'll see how it goes. Hope you make it this year! And that's so cool that you're doing a writer's conference! I always thought it would be cool to go to one, but I've never done it. I'm excited to hear how you like it! :)
Nicole: I would love it if you'd read my novel! I don't really have a time I need it by, though it would be nice if I could have it by the beginning of March so I would have some ideas to work off of for NaNoEdMo. But if that's too soon for you, then whenever you're able to! Thanks SO much. :D
Merriette: Aw, that makes me feel special that you're willing to work on my story even while you're busy. Thank you! :D
I'm sending all of you who gave me your email the link to the novel on googledocs, with a few suggestions for critique. If you'd prefer it as a word document, let me know and I can email you that instead. Again, THANK YOU! Your critiques, however many or however long, are SO appreciated. :D
~Melody
Hey Melody,
I would love to read your story! It may take quite some time for me to read it all because I am rather busy but I would still like to do my best to read it by summer. ;) I too am writing a story but far from the subject of your's.
Oh and I was wondering how you get those check box things on the bottom of your posts? I tried to figure it out with no luck. Thanks!
~Butterfly
Hi Butterfly,
If you send me your email address in a separate comment, I can give you the link for my novel. :)
If you go into layout and click on blog posts, there's a screen that comes up that has lots of different options. There should be one called "reactions" and it has different words such as "fun" etc (which you can change, as I did). Make sure the box next to that is checked, and then you should have the check boxes!
~Melody
How many people do you want to do it?
Hi Caroline, I'm really open to however many are willing! So feel free to comment with your email (I won't post it) and I can send you the link to read & critique it. :)
Blessings,
~Melody
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