Tag: revision

Reading the Vision Out Loud: Part III (or Slowing Down)

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on April 29, 2015. Posted in GOD, Writing. 7 Comments on Reading the Vision Out Loud: Part III (or Slowing Down)

I’ve slowed down. Reading aloud the first eighty pages whizzed by, but now it’s dragging a bit. This is as it should be. As the story grows, more strands are woven in, and I must be more analytical to make sure I don’t drop a stitch (how’s that for a knitting metaphor by a non-knitter?). I notice things my...

I Can’t Blame the Agent

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 23, 2014. Posted in General. 4 Comments on I Can’t Blame the Agent

If you’ve been following this blog, you know I spent about fourteen months attempting to rewrite my manuscript, Train Trip: Lucinda Mae’s Quest for Love, Honor, and the Chickens, into a novel a particular agent could successfully represent. At the end of this process, the agent declined representation. This is not her fault....

The Spinning Plates are Real

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on June 22, 2014. Posted in General. 2 Comments on The Spinning Plates are Real

For those of you concerned about me after my Great Public Failure (I didn’t get an agent, to put this in perspective), here’s my current game plan: * send the Train Trip query to the paid-editor for tweaking: STATUS: DONE * send Model for Detective (When her model partner disappears, a Memphis fashion model uses her “clothes...

The Stink of Failure

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on May 27, 2014. Posted in General. 10 Comments on The Stink of Failure

I have just sent—for the last time—to the interested agent Train Trip: Lucinda Mae’s Quest for Love, Honor, and the Chickens. After three (count ’em, three) prior attempts, I have either successfully managed to revise the manuscript into a “market ready” product or I have not. I am telling y’all this because I...

Word to the Wise: Pay Attention to Your Beta Readers

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on February 5, 2014. Posted in General. 3 Comments on Word to the Wise: Pay Attention to Your Beta Readers

Three years ago, or maybe four, a man I did not know arrived at my writing group, and during a long conversation about the first chapter of The Bone Trench, he said, “I’m ready to see Cat Thomas return.” I assured him Cat, who opened the novel in a brief scene, would be back shortly, specifically at the beginning of the...

(d) Whatever

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on December 21, 2013. Posted in General. 2 Comments on (d) Whatever

I’ve found a rhythm. While my editor in Oregon has Train Trip, I’m working on another novel. The first round, I was in Memphis and I revised Bone Trench, a Christian fantasy novel set in Memphis. Second round, I was down in New Orleans so I finished (!) Jazzy, a Katrina novel. This round—hopefully the last—I’m revising A...

The Endearing Parts

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 28, 2013. Posted in General. No Comments on The Endearing Parts

I hate to admit failure. So what I do is re-define reality. No, I didn’t fail to place as highly in the contest as I’d hoped. What I did was to learn a major truth about my revision process. I am trying to shift my novel-writing from voice-driven, told story to scene-based, plotted story. I say “shift” but it’s...

Editing on the Moon

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on September 18, 2013. Posted in General. 4 Comments on Editing on the Moon

I gave the words a last once-over, focusing on the new scenes designed to make the novel vibrate. Scrolling, I called it finished and exported the Apple Pages document to a Word document. Hitting “Send,” I sailed Train Trip: Lucinda Mae’s Quest for Love, Honor and the Chickens to the editor. The editor, who lives in the...

The Dance between Intellect and Creative Impulse

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on July 8, 2013. Posted in General. No Comments on The Dance between Intellect and Creative Impulse

“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.” Susan Sontag, courtesy of A-Word-A-Day “Revision must honor the creative impulse that led to the words that strived—neck stretched—to achieve something the intellect—sitting in the bleachers, watching the race—can only glimpse.” Ellen Morris Prewitt Listen to...

Squids, quicksand, and the baby chicks apeeping

Written by Ellen Morris Prewitt on March 20, 2013. Posted in General. 4 Comments on Squids, quicksand, and the baby chicks apeeping

I am refilling a manuscript with a contest I entered last year at this time. To do so, I must justify the refilling, describing how the manuscript has changed. Thus, I’ve had occasion to review what last year I thought was a nearly complete version of The Bone Trench, this novel I can’t seem to give up on. This earlier version of the...