Life, liberty and the pursuit of publication (which is what would bring me happiness!)

I have always put stories to paper, and I have always wanted to get published. In fact, more years ago that I want to admit, I actually got a couple of things out there – a short story, a poem and a “guest column” in a newspaper. Then, life happened. I’m sure you know what I mean – a child, a couple of dogs, my “real” job…

But, when I turned forty (!!! when did I get that old!!!) last year, I decided that it was now or never. That may be part of the reason that the average age to get published is 42. This statistic came from a creative writing instructor from a class I took, again, more years ago that I want to admit. I intended to be an exception. At this point, the exception will be that I will be OLDER than 42!

So here I am now, blogging away instead of working on my manuscript (hey – I need to gripe somewhere). So join me as I share my experience of rewriting the manuscript I wrote all those years ago (I hate counting) and get it ready to send off to a publisher.

To be truthful, I have another manuscript that I have sent off to a publisher, and I am anxiously awaiting to hear from them, so this manuscript is not the only thing I have going. I just don’t think any of you would want to read about me waiting to hear from a publisher. I think that would get old pretty quick.

So, last week (on Thursday) I went to a writing workshop about the “Sense of Style” and I realized just how much I have forgotten from that long-ago creative writing class.
So my first task will be to go through my first chapter, and check out the verbs I used, getting rid of all those passive and nonaction ones.

I’ll let you know how it goes….