Braving a “Quill Flogging”
By Bill Stephens - Apr 21 , 2008
I boxed up my ego, my pride of accomplishment, my certainty that I am a good writer, my belief that anyone who feels otherwise simply is out of touch with reality, and submitted my first chapter of Vamonos!, my second novel, to Ray Rhamey’s blog Flogging the Quill – “Turn the Page” critique.
I followed Ray’s Blog for months and learned a lot about how to get a novel out of the starting gate with a blast before my submission. The “Turn the Page” thing goes like this:
You submit the first sixteen double spaced lines of your manuscript, which, according to Ray, is the amount of text that should be on the first page of a novel. He reads it, and then decides if he will turn the page. If he fails to turn the page, obviously you have goofed it up in his opinion and have to go back to the word processor for a rewrite—especially if you want an agent or editor to consider your manuscript.
Here’s a tip: Send him the entire first chapter, because unless he is completely bummed by your efforts, he will often continue with some free editing suggestions. I say free because Ray does editing for a living. I do not know his fees, but they probably are worth it (if you have some loose money to invest).
I’ve found it interesting that most of the submissions are manuscripts dealing with some element of the paranormal or futuristic fiction. Mine seemed to be the only one in some time based on contemporary real life. In fact, Ray has a bent in the direction of the paranormal as one of his novels is about a vampire cat.
In my opinion, Ray does a great service for the wannabee writer. Even if you do not submit your work, there’s a lot to learn from just reading his critiques on work submitted by others. He averages about two per week. You should check his site on Wednesday and Friday.
So how did I do with the Vamonos! manuscript? You can click on his link above to get the blow-by-blow, but here is the short version: He felt the start was too slow, with too much setting and characterization. He seemed to feel the book had promise if I speeded it up.
Now, here’s the kicker—two days before Reading Ray’s critique of Vamonos!, my agent sent me a rejection letter from an editor who had just completed a full manuscript review of Vamonos! She liked the voice, the detail, and the sense of place, but, “From page one, everything is happening way too fast.”
What is a writer to do?
