Organization

I have a lot of friends who wonder how I keep all my materials concerning a story organized. They used to not be. But when you have notes, pictures, pieces of old cancels manuscripts, and more, then you need to find a way to keep everything together.

How do I do it? Folders. I get a regular plain folder and write the title of the story on it with my trusty Sharpie.

I keep all the written pages on the left side of the folder. This picture shows (from left to right) a page from an old manuscript with highlighted marks that I used in The Ultimate Evil, a brief idea, query letter help, and finally the beginnings of my acknowledgements and dedication page. I always write one for every story whether they get published or not, because it's nice to look back and see who helped you the most with your work.

On the right side I keep all my pictures, drawings, maps, and the like. Here (again from left to right) I have a drawing of Arvil that a friend did for me, along with a tracing that I did to add the scars and chipped horn. The next is a concept for a creature I created called the Vorrion (think a cross between a lion and a saber-tooth tiger). I also have a map of Morlaya and a creature that Arvil turns into that my sister drew for me.

I have a folder like this for every single story. I find it easier than keeping everything on the computer where you're flipping through two or more documents.

The one thing I do not keep in the folder is my manuscript. Mine are so long that I can't print them off (otherwise my parents would make me by the ink for the printer, and I don't have a job, so I couldn't pay for it!) so I just keep them on my computer and Jump (Flash) drives.

Anyway, that's how I keep my story stuff together.

Rejected

Well, as you can tell from the title, my dream agent just sent me a rejection letter. :(

But, you know what? That's OK. YA fantasy is a tough sell right now.

So, here's my stratagy. I am only going to query The Ultimate Evil to a few more agents. Most agents are really looking for middle grade fiction right now and Khaladin and Help! My Parents Are From Outer Space! both fall into that catagory. So, I'm going to try The Ultimate Evil a few more times while I REALLY work hard on finishing up these other two manuscripts before I start querying them off. I have read several stories about authors getting thier first work rejected, the second accepted, and the first gets published because of the second. Pretty cool, huh?

And, if no one wants The Ultimate Evil, then I can dismantle it and turn it into another story. I'll make things work.....somehow.

Anyway, I have a question for everyone. If I were going to pitch one of my middle grade novels now (but I'm not yet, they're not ready) which one should I pitch?

Khaladin: Horse gives birth to unicorn foal.

Or....

Help! My Parents Are From Outer Space!: A girl finds out her parents are aliens and, after a great, kinda messed up adventure, has to save two worlds, her father, and the President of the United States.

So, which would you choose to pitch?

So, I Finished

Yeah, last night, I finished the first draft of Help! My Parents Are From Outer Space! I already had about half of the manuscript written, so it didn't take me long to finish.

So far, it has 26K and 20 chapters. It's been a lot of fun to write because it's in first person and my first time finishing a novel in that format as well. Since I'm so used to third person, I'm learning new things and it's been great! It's harder to write first person because if you say something that is completely out of sync with your character, it shows more. There's not as much leeway in first person as there is in third, not that there's much in third anyway! :)

Also, I just submitted The Ultimate Evil to my dream agent. I hope she bites! :D

53K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Ultimate Evil is now 53,000 words! Who'd have thought this would happen? Certainly not me! My friend who had my manuscript for over a year (some of you know he has health problems, but he is now doing much better!) gave it back to me yesterday with his corrections and I finished adding them this morning. I found out that my grammar has gotten MUCH better over the past three years. No, I can't explain the fundamentals of the English language, but at least I'm learning what it should look like in print!

With the story back from that friend and my query letter and synopsis finished, I now only have one more person to finish reading it before I send it out. It's getting close!