Week of July 29, 2012: Revise It, or
Bury It?
Tuesday, July 31—Maria Modugno Says . . .
Maria Modugno
Vice President
and Editorial Director
HarperCollins
Children’s Books
(And my editor
for the Ruby Rose books!)
The overwhelming reason that
manuscripts are declined is because they just don’t have that extra spark,
something that makes them irresistible. And that quality is the most difficult
to define.
There are some things you can
check—does the story have a distinctive voice? Does the plot work without
relying on coincidence? Does it end with a surprise [such as a] birthday party?
How does it sound when you read it aloud, or better yet have someone read it to
you. Take care that you are not convincing yourself that it’s a good text.
I’m a saver of scraps. I have a jar
of mismatched buttons that I keep on hand just in case. Don’t ever give your
manuscript a funeral. Set it aside for a while first underlining the parts you
love the best.
Something that isn’t working
completely will still have a number of gems you can use somewhere else.
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