Just kidding.
Pitchwars (for more on PitchWars, there's their website www.pitchwars.org, and also a podcast on Manuscript Academy's website at https://manuscriptacademy.com/podcast Episode #64) has been a fascinating journey requiring me to toughen my hide and buckle down to get the task done. I didn't know what to expect. Really, I had no clue whatsoever. At the outset, since all my beta readers said the pace of This Darkness is Mine picked up around Chapter 15 and they couldn't put it down until the end, I figured I'd only be rewriting and editing Chapters 8-14. Not so bad.
That is not how it turned out.
The first half required the least work. A brand new Chapter 2. That was easy. A few overlays to add in some conflict between the characters, reveal motivations and stuff like that.
Those changes had ripple effects throughout the rest of the manuscript, which led me to writers block (it still happens to me, too).
The biggest hurdle and bluntest comments were about the character of Joe.
The relationship doesn't seem real.
It's too easy.
This remains difficult to believe.
OK. I wrestled here, but to be honest, I think the changes I made really deepen the bond between Michelle and Joe. My mentor hasn't weighed in yet, but we moved on to drafting pitches. I think we're going with draft #15. We moved on to searching for comps and now I'm back to that struggle. Finding adult contemporary fiction on mental illness in a minority family with a romantic subplot that deals with the effects of a cultish religion...not easy.
However, if you tell an agent there's "no book on the market like mine," they don't believe you and write you off as not knowing your genre.
On the flip side, when I think about the lack of suitable comparable titles, it leads me to toy with the idea that This Darkness is Mine is truly a seminal work. After all this turmoil, my ego needs the stroking. And it's plausible. This is not my first go round looking for comp titles and coming up with almost nothing.
What's in This Darkness is Mine?
- an imaginary romance
- a psychotic break on a plane
- a friendship-turned-romance that blows up and falls apart
- dysfunctional family dynamics
- contrast of bipolar managed well against not managed at all
- grief, loss, resilience, tenacity, denial, acceptance, and healing
It's a helluva story
Make someone else's day magical!
Mackenzie
I really can not wait to read this book. So curious about which of the cultish religions this protagonist hails from. From the well managed to not so well managed, to the point of psychosis... wow. Can really wrap my head around this womans adventures.
ReplyDeleteWhen will it be available? Or can I be one of your beta testers? 😊
Hello and thank you for your vote of support and confidence. Pitchwars culminates in an online showcase of the mentees' pitches and Page 1 excerpts. That'll be on the pitchwars.org site between Feb 5 and Feb 10. Literary agents will comment on the pitches for which they want queries. From there, a deal is possible and the agent will shop the manuscript to publishers. So basically, it could be a year before the manuscript is a novel on bookstore shelves.
DeleteChapter 1 is on the blog at https://mackenzielittledalewrites.blogspot.com/2018/11/on-writing.html
Thanks again for commenting. You have no idea how much I appreciate hearing from readers!