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!
