CURRENT PROJECT UPDATE! - Slow Progress

Though I'm not sure my progress is necessarily at a turtle's pace (though they can run pretty fast when the need arises. I've watched one run across my back yard after getting tapped with the lawn mower blade. Ouch!)

For those who think writing a book is easy, you are correct. Writing the story is easy. The real work begins when you switch to polishing mode. Correcting grammar and punctuation, staying in the proper Point of View, internalization, deep Point of View, etc. When you can resolve all of those issues in your manuscript, you've earned your paycheck.

I thought all of these things had been done years ago in Ozakr Angel.. now renamed A Christmas To Remember. The story went through a professional editor (yes, she is a professional. She edits for a big name in Inspirational Fiction), received favorable comments from two Sil. Special Edition editors and even got 'The Call' (though after unable to connect with the editor, I wound up with a form rejection letter six months later. Probably for the best). With all these positives, the story still does not score well in competitions where editors and agents are the final judges. Hmmm

Then I heard something from writer friend Jen Nipps last week. She said a friend of hers believes that if the story doesn't score well in competition then it is pretty much publishable. Interesting. As a judge I try to be honest. If  I see issues I leave comments as well as where they can go to learn how to fix the problem. I also praise the things they have done correctly and there have been several over the years when I tell them to let me know when the book is released. Their submission is that good!

So where does that leave me with 'Christmas'? Well, as I tried to prep Chapter 1 for competition I saw a lot of issues that were never caught in the beginning. So now my quandry is, do I play to the competition or go with what has been doing well the way the manuscript is and send it back out. My internal judge (Not the internal editor - but the person who would judge this for competition) tells me I have work to do. So Camp Nano has been put aside and in between work and a journaling class, I'm trying to see the clearing for the forest.