I managed to break the back end of my site for a few days, so this post is long over due, but … I was selected as a 2015 #PitchWars mentee!

The evening of the announcement went something like this:

THANK YOU SO MUCH @SG_Marsh I’M SOBBING #PitchWars

— MK England (@GeektasticLib) September 2, 2015

Oh my god there I aaaaaammmmmmm *chugs more wine* *hyperventilates* #PitchWars https://t.co/746WRU2wtm

— MK England (@GeektasticLib) September 2, 2015

I’ve hit overstimulated toddler mode. put me to bed with a story & warm milk. except by a story I mean fanfic, and by warm milk I mean wine. — MK England (@GeektasticLib) September 2, 2015

And even a week later, it was still like this:

It’s official. I got my letter! I’m a wizard!!! #PitchWarsMadeMeAWizard @NKTraver pic.twitter.com/Zs9i6ZEtxN — Genevieve Angelique (@GenevieveArtel) September 9, 2015

But now it’s really sunk in, and I’ve been hard at work. My lovely mentor, the super smart and talented Sarah Glenn Marsh, was so on top of things that I got my edit letter and #PitchWars homework the day after the announcement was made. I had some assigned reading, some character mapping to do, and a ginormous revision outline to make. At first I was like … revision outline? Wow, that’s new, I always just dive in and fix things start to finish according to the track changes/comments in word. Except then I looked back at my old notes. Yes, apparently I DO make revision outlines, they’re just scattered across six thousand post-it notes, notebooks, and google docs. Ha. Sarah’s way is vastly superior, and it got me really pumped to see how everything would eventually fit together.

I thought I would be afraid of my edit letter but actually … it’s all fine. In this case, there were no major plot or structure changes (thanks to my amazing crit partners, no doubt), nor were there many cut requests—just lots of opportunities to give the reader more. More emotion, more characterization, more interaction, more physical presence, more setting detail. Character is what really makes or breaks a book for me, so I’m thrilled to be making these kinds of changes. I’m pretty easy-going about making changes anyway, so long as they fit the overall direction of the book, but I was still very pleased with the notes I received. I would love to have those revisions done by the end of September. #goals

In the meantime, I’ve also been brainstorming, plotting, and character arc-ing a new book to be drafted during NaNoWriMo this year. My dearest crit partner Lisen and I were named Municipal Liaisons for the South Jersey Region of NaNoWriMo, along with our fellow South Jersey writer Krista Magrowski, so we’re looking forward to an intense November! I don’t want to say too much about the new book yet, but I’m bouncing in my chair at the thought of getting to write it. Humor, campy sci-fi, and bad ass ladies, oh my!

How do you feel about revisions? Do you struggle to accept the things your critique partners tell you, or do you take it and run? What’s the toughest part of the revision process for you? Let’s commiserate together in the comments.