When Musings Become A Manuscript

In a little more than two hours, the clock will pass midnight, and it will be the first day of Summer. Summer is the time when the sun is out from 5am to 9pm, I can surf before work, I can run at the beach after and I can commit to writing 50,000+ words. That last bit is part of July Novel Writing Month.  The goal, should I choose to accept it, is to write 50,000+ words during the month of July.

So with the onset of summer I decided to start planning my novel, get those keys warmed up, and get the gears rolling for July 1^st kick off JulNoWriMo.  In preparation, I started brain storming an idea I had rolling around in my head for years.  Then I wrote a debut author and asked her advice on how to get started. 

Her advice was to check out the local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) events.  So I did.  Wow…they had a ton of activities going on and some right in my area.  I signed up for a Critiquenic being held in Los Angeles.  For the event we needed to bring 8 copies of our manuscript (up to 10 pages).  This was my motivation to actually start writing down some of the ideas I had been brainstorming. And tada, I came out with my first chapter. 

So I drove to Roxbury Park with my 10 pages and mentally prepared for the critique…well as much as I could…this was my first writing event and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Once I got to the park, I found out I had been switched to a new critique group. To my surprise my new group was now being led by a very well known YA author.  My knees started to shake. 

My critique group picked out a spot under a tree and formed a circle.  We spread the blankets, broke out our lunches and then introduced ourselves.  The rest of my critique group had been writing for years and many were published. Now my hands were trembling too.

Then our leader said, “who wants to read first?”  There goes my lunch…okay, not really…but the nerves really kicked in after that. I hadn’t been prepared to read my own story. 

When it was finally my turn to read my voice was quivery, my hands were trembling and If I wasn’t sitting cross legged my knees would have been knocking.  As I spoke, some of the group wrote feverishly on their copy of my manuscript while others looked at me intently.  When I was done blurting out my ten pages, I took a big sigh of relief and sat back and listened.

It was so great!  Everyone was so warm and supportive. They took into consideration were I was in the writing process and really tailored their comments accordingly.  Each group member wrote very thoughtful and helpful comments on how I can make my manuscript stronger.  I’ve got a lot of work to do yet, but it was all very encouraging.  Now I am so excited about July Novel Writing Month and moving forward with my idea and building on my 10 pages.

So, what's my novel about? Hmm...rather than give you a whole synopsis, I'll leave you with this, leaving you in AWESOME SUSPENSE of course. It’s an urban fantasy novel for young adults centered on a world where if you do not create your destiny, you will have your fate inflicted upon you. The working title is Golden Dawn.

In honor of Heidi Kling, the author who gave me my first bit of advice. I will be giving away a signed copy of her debut novel Sea.

DEADLINE:  Wednesday, June 30th, noon, Pacific Time. Winner will be posted on the blog. 

Open to US Residents only.

Thanks to all who signed up to follow the blog, follow me on Twitter, and friend me on Facebook.   

The entries have been tallied...and the winner is...

Astrid...Congratulations!

Keep checking back and following because another great giveaway will be coming soon!