Nerves

Last week I managed to have a last read through of my novel and did any last edits and changes. Then I emailed it off to some close family members and friends who I trusted to check for any further errors and give me some constructive feedback.

What I didn't realise was how nervous that would actually make me; this is people I have known for years. And when I was doing the final read through all of a sudden I was thinking about those people would be reading it and considering what they would think of me for writing it. It is a pretty dark story - I'll tell you more about it soon - so I was wondering what they would think goes on in my head. Then I got to thinking about whether they would assume that certain elements were true, or had happened to me. This made email little snippets to my husband asking his opinion before I sent it to my guinea pigs.

So far however the feedback has been really positive. I think most of them are shocked that I actually can do creative writing, and not just say I can. I do want them to be critical too though, because if there is something they don't like, then the chances are that it will be the same things that the public don't like either. They may find it hard to point out the negatives, but I really need them to, but I can take it. When I did my creative writing degree, I learnt that constructive feedback was one of the most valuable aspects to my writing, and after you got over the first few times of trying to justify to writing, you would look forward to the ideas other people could give you.

Also this week I have actually sought out some literary agents and I am beginning to send things out to them. Most of them want the first three chapters or 10,000 words, a synopsis and a cover letter. So that's been a bit of additional writing for me this week, but it is all very exciting. If you have any advice for me I'd certainly appreciate it.