There are some things I just cannot bear to throw out. I have a stack of old, unpublished manuscripts. They take up room, but I don't have digital files for them because I typed out the stories on a manual typewriter. Every once in a while I take this small mountain of words out to wipe away the dust and groan, but I can't bear to part with them. They made me the author I am today.
The first book I finished was Irons in the Fire. However, it wound up being the second book I had published. The manuscript went through innumerable changes and edits. It made the rounds going from publishing houses to a variety of agents. Eventually, I finally received a contract for it. Meanwhile, I wrote other books. One was set in Florence, Italy, because I spent a summer there and I loved the place. One was set in Mexico and another here in NJ. After I finished writing the books and after a few more critiques, I realized each had problems--big problems. There were convoluted plots and too many characters. Fixing the books would take a lot of work and truthfully, I didn't even know where to start.
Then I came up with the idea for Sea Of Hope and some sort of writing magic happened. I got a contract for it. Some time later, I realized that writing those other books helped me to learn how to put a book together.
How many books have you written that are hiding under the bed, or on a shelf collecting dust? Can they be fixed or are there just too many problems in them?
2 comments:
Yeah, you can't throw that away. Even scanning it would be a hassle, plus it's the words AND the paper they're on that have the sentimental value.
Mark,
Yep, I really had to hit those keys hard on the manual typewriter. Lots of sentimental value. :-)
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