Now What?

I finished it.

Well, not really, but there isn't any more I can do on my latest effort, "Wherever You May Be" until I get more feedback. I'm not a writer who can dash off a story, send it to a publisher, get immediate acceptance and sit back a few months later with a book in my hands (or on my e-reader).

I sent my first draft to two trusted beta readers. They sent back critical advice and I knew enough to realize they were right. So -- I wrote a second draft incorporating their suggestions.

While writing that, I discovered I needed some additonal scenes, more points of view from the male character, more tension... well, you know how it is. Three a.m. and I wake up with a complete new scene in my head. That hasn't happened lately, so I hope my subconscious is finished and not thinking up some diaolical plot twist that will have me re-writing the entire story.

Meanwhile, as I worked on the second draft, I sent weekly chapters to my critique group. They are a diverse group of writers and what one likes, another doesn't. They catch typos and grammatical errors and suggest things I hadn't thought of. I take what I can use and try to explain why I'm not using what I don't agree with. Sometimes in the middle of an explanation I realize they are right.

Then I went through the manuscript one more time and made some slight changes and added two new scenes.

I sent this third draft to a trusted editor/friend who can be ruthless. Which is what I need now. Then there will be a fourth and possibly final draft before I sent it out into the world to make its fortune.

While I'm waiting, I plan to submit another story that so far has received nothing but rejections, although occasionally accompanied by a kind and encouraging word from the publisher. I believe it's a good story and I want it to find a home. So that's what I'll be doing until I hear back. Oh, and do some revisions on "A Question of Boundaries" after having completed a very good workshop on Steampunk. I discovered I need to add a monster. That sounds like fun, doesn't it.

One thing I can state positively: There's more to writing than sitting down and typing. There's always the question-- what's next?