The
YA Indie Authors are starting a new monthly series, Toni's Big Six Journey. It one
where a starting-out and talented new author, Toni Lombardo, will share her trials and
tribulations as she makes her way to the Big Six. She'll talk about pitches,
writing, conferences, social media, and/or anything else she sees and does on this
journey.
Toni
is
LIGHT 'EM UP
I guess I
should start off with saying who I am: My
name is Toni Lombardo. I am
a writer. I am going the
traditional route (ya know, “The BIG six”, I want to be affiliated with
Penguin/Random House, but for right now, I am in the transition state.)
The
transition state. I am working with a great guy named David Henry Sterry
(The Book Doctor). I met him and his wife Arielle Eckstut in the
beginning of October 2011. I went to a book convention and met them and
hit it off. Since then I have been working with him on my book. I
sent a copy of my book and he said it wasn’t ready yet, then I edited it a
little and he said that it wasn’t ready for the world. He asked what I
was doing in writing now and told him all the stuff I am working on. I
told him that I felt like my writing had improved since I was sixteen when I
first finished the original copy I sent him (started it when I was
fifteen). He told me it was FANTASTIC for a sixteen year old writer but
not ready for publishing.
Now, before I
get to the good part here is the great thing about David, he is wonderful and
gets writers because he is a writer. He started to say something, “Have
you considered…” and paused. When he hesitated I said “rewriting
it?” He said yes. The thing I loved about the hesitation it showed
that he didn’t want to crush my dreams. I mean really how if I went the traditional,
traditional route, you know…edit sent to query, would that have ended up?
I would have gotten rejection after rejection and never have known why…I mean
ask any author there are millions of horror stories. I had one friend who
burned her only manuscript because of an agent. This guy David approached
the topic carefully and caringly. He told me what needed work; he didn’t
shoot me down and crush my dreams and tell me I was untalented (or true story
talked to an agent she said no. Then told someone she didn’t like me or
my book.)
The rewrite
turned out to be the best thing that could happen. The book is part 1 in
a 5 book series and I have written through the halfway mark in the third
novel. In doing that my book changed so much. Not enough for
a reader to pick up on, but enough for me the author to cringe over.
Like I said I
was fifteen when I started the novel and there were things I was afraid to
write. I was afraid what people would think of me, what judgments would
be made. Some people told me I was a bad ‘Christian’ because of the content of
my book. Now, hold up right there—advice—NEVER, NEVER let anyone get away
with saying that! You’re writing doesn’t make you more or less of
whatever religion you choose. You’re writing doesn’t make you a good or
bad believer of your faith. Back to what I was saying, I was afraid to
write certain scenes. But as I got older and my characters aged the book
had to mature. I had to write those scenes, and you know what they turned
out great. So in the rewrite I was able to have the foundation down of
the book, but the knowledge of what my characters decided to do in their lives
and the maturity to write the scenes in ways that would create tight bonds
between every word, sentence, and book. I think every writer should have
at least the second book in the series written before trying to publish the
first. Because no matter how hard you try to stay to your plot your
characters will make their own decisions and mess everything up, but that is
the beauty of writing.
The rewrite
has revealed to me so many things that were just cringe worthy, where if that
book was published I would have gone into hiding and never write anything ever
again, not a grocery list, not a birthday card. Yeah, that is how bad the
first go around was. It is truly embarrassing. I had and have
supportive friends who loved the first edition, because they didn’t see my full
potential, but David did. And now when they read what I am doing now they
kind of laugh that they thought the first edition was good, (they aren’t being
mean, it was that bad, like really) and tell me how much I have improved.
I keep
getting off topic. In rewriting you will find ways to make your book
better in ways you couldn’t have imagine for 5 reasons: 1- you have matured in
life and writing, 2-your life experiences have influenced you and made you
better, 3- your characters have aged in the books, 4-your story is becoming
more complex and real and lastly the most important, 5-you know your characters
better!
Knowing your
characters, loving, hating, crying for/with your characters is what makes your
book great, because if you don’t do all that, then there is a possibility that
your readers won’t either. Your characters have to be real, and I don’t
mean realistic, they have to be real to you before they can be real to
others. Because when they are real to other people—that is when you have
truly have succeeded. Having a best seller is great, having a movie made
is great, being in demand is great, but the true test of success is what I said
above, when your fictional character takes on a life for a person who doesn’t
know you, just bought your book, your reader then you have succeeded. It
doesn’t matter if you sell one or countless books; true, true success is when
your characters become real to someone else. I know I said that what
three, four times, but it is important. And my next post will talk about
the importance of connecting with characters.
Toni's Motivating Quote: We write for ourselves.
Toni's Listening to: Fall out Boy, My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark (Light Em Up)
