Recaps and New Hope

I'm having technical difficulties with my internet server and my time is short. So here are some of my blogpost recaps, especially for those new to the blog or who may have an interest in any of these topics. Thanks again for reading, thank you to those who respond, and thanks for your patience. There will be some new features coming to the blog in the next few months that I'm really excited about and I hope you will enjoy too.

Because: One of the Most Important Words a Writer Can Use...
Outlining: The Simple Version
Your Story, Your Spin (voice, style and treatment)
A Public Service Message Regarding Unpolished Manuscripts
Manuscript Disease Top Ten Symptoms
The Critiquing Dilemma
Receiving Manuscript Feedback
Adjectives, Adverbs, and Sneaky Profanity
Does Your Story Have Mass-Market Appeal?
Obesity and Anorexia in Novels (Is your novel too fat or too thin?)
Writing What You Know--The Truth Isn't So Hard

And if you haven't had a chance to read through the survey I'm conducting, you'll find it here. Please take a minute to answer at least one or two of the questions if you don't have time for the full thing.

As to the new hope part of my blog title, I'm happy to report that taking a few months off to critique and read only has paid off for me. I'd grown increasingly discouraged over the past year regarding what and how I write. It's a common malady for writers and I knew that. With all the hype around YA novels of this or that specific niche genre and all the fuss to make query letters sound YA even when a story might not be YA, I felt ready to throw in the towel several times. I didn't start writing for the sake of publishing. I write because I love to make up stories and share them with others. Pursuing publication has been exhilerating, tiring, and trying. With my internet down this weekend I seized on the opportunity to try my hand at revising a novel again and the old rush of being in the zone returned. Reading so many other peoples' manuscripts and books reminded me that there is room out there for all kinds of stories. Despite the hype, I don't have to try to cram and mold my story into the genre agents are clamoring for. Current trends die out and new ones can be born every day. Realizing this broke some of the editing shackles holding me back. The story is stronger than ever and I'm looking forward to finishing the critiquing marathon in a couple of weeks so I can use all my writing time again for writing.