Tag: am querying

Just About In The Next Stage Of My Scifi Dramedy WIP

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have a few more scenes to write with this scifi dramedy I’m working on before I take things to the next level: reading it all the way through.

Once THAT is done, then I will get more into the nitty-gritty of “color correction” so there is some consistency of tone to it all.

I’m hoping to do something different than previous times I’ve gotten to this point when things seemed to fall apart for various reasons. I really need to keep this draft to myself as long as possible before giving it to anyone to read.

It definitely looks as though I’m on track to start querying no later than Sept 1st. I might actually wrap things up a few months before then — maybe — but as I understand it, there are two “seasons” for querying: spring and fall. So, once everyone is done with their summer vacations, I suppose I can start to query.

Now, obviously, I have to prepare myself for a catastrophic disaster, failure. In the sense that any number of things could go wrong, from be being simply too old, to me being to big of a kook, to the novel just sucking no matter what to…the list goes on.

But at least I will have tried. At least I will have experience something interesting and cool.

One thing I will need to do is start work on a new novel while I query. And, yet, I also know I’m getting up their in age and while it will be a distraction to write a new novel, I have to accept that if I don’t sell this first novel that the next novel is probably just for fun no matter what.

I just will be too fucking old to be a first-time traditionally published author.

Update On My Scifi Dramedy WIP For March 15th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The movie that is the closest “comp” to my novel is the horror-thriller movie Companion. But I continue to be intrigued about how there hasn’t been a direct competitor to my novel that deals with the practical elements of actual romance with an android.

Everyone is so busy thinking of the absolute worst case scenario that no one — but me so far — has wondered about a more nuanced romantic scenario.

Anyway, I continue to edge closer and closer to wrapping this draft of the novel up. I’m, at the moment at least, breezing through the third act. Then, I’m going to take a deep, deep breath and do “open heart surgery” on some of the structure of the novel. And THEN, I’m going to going to “color correct” the novel’s content on a more nuance basis.

I still am weighing leaning into having AI being my editor and having it “gently” the novel to give it some consistency as well as query-level content. My only fear, of course, is because everyone is hateful that they will just roll their eyes and say “AI wrote the novel,” when that will not be the case at all.

Anyway. I’m growing more and more uneasy about what happens when I get to the querying process. I’m really nervous about due diligence on the part of mostly liberal white women who make up literary agents (in my imagination.) I’m a kook and always have been and I’m afraid they will “cancel” me even before given me any sort of chance with the novel.

I have three books about querying I should be reading, but just can’t bring myself to do it. But there will come a point when I absolutely have to.

Update On My Scifi Dramedy WIP For March 14th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going…ok? I’m pleasantly surprised at how fast my work on my WIP is going now that I’m in the third act. I had some problems with one of my AI editors because a scene was a little too spicy for them, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome.

I hope to wrap this draft up….maybe by the of the month? Maybe?

Then, post-production starts.

Then I have to do fucking open heart surgery on a structural basis to fix some real lingering problems in the nature of the novel. Like, my hero is too passive at times. And there is a moment in the second half of the second act where even I, as the writer, wonder why in the world anyone would want to hang out with these people.

They all seem so unhappy for no reason.

But, then, in the third act, things bounce back to where they should be.

Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed this struggle this go round when it comes to working on a novel. I continue to think, because I can’t afford a human editor, that I will get an AI to “gently” edit my copy as one of the last stages in the post-production process before I query.

I’m Going Through The Third Act Of This Scifi Dramedy At A Nice Little Clip

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m pleasantly surprised at how fast I’m going through the third act outline of this scifi dramedy I’m working on. I’m so fucking moody about my writing that there’s a chance it could be months before I finish this draft, but if I can focus I think it could be weeks.

And THEN what I’m going to do is do open heart surgery on some of the structure of the novel. Then I’m going to do “color correction” of the novel to stop it being the current hodge-podge of drafts that it is.

AND THEN, once THAT is done, I MAY take the controversial step of doing a once over with AI to give it a final burnish. I’m only mulling do this because, lulz, I can’t afford a fucking editor.

So, I would instruct the AI to “gently” edit my writing simply to bump it up to query-level. Of course, being a lot of people are dumb and horrible, they would say this means I “let AI write the novel for me.”

Nope. I have done so much hard work. But I just can’t afford a human manuscript consultant or a human editor. And my beta readers are simply not going to give me the input that I need. (And I can’t afford to pay a beta reader.)

I still haven’t quite decided to this yet, but I may.

Update On My WIP For March 12th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I continue to cruise through the third act of the latest draft of this scifi dramedy WIP. One issue I’m facing is the scenes of late just aren’t long enough. I’m struggling to get them to be two pages, which is annoying.

My “comp” novel.

I plan on fixing that issue when I do “color correction” as part of the next draft of the novel. It won’t really be a full new draft, but rather just a lot editing because my ability to get anyone to beta read this thing is up to debate.

I continue to not read the comp novel for my novel, “Annie Bot.” I know I should, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Just the idea that there is a novel — especially what appears to be a feminist screed — that is so similar to my novel rattles my cage.

I have read a few pages and I already am being too hard on myself for my lousy writing. And, yet, I have to — have to — get over myself and read that novel so I can properly refer to it in my query letter.

I am also beginning to have a growing sense of unease about the querying process. This is, in a sense, the farthest I’ve ever gotten when it comes to this process of traditional publishing because I know if I actually put the work in this novel is query-level good.

There continue to be some structural problems with the novel that I’m going to have to do open heart surgery on the document to fix. That’s going to be a real pain in the ass because I’m ready to take things to the next level — seeing if I can get someone to be a beta reader.

But I’m so flat broke and generally don’t know anyone willing to be a firm but fair beta reader that, lulz, I’m going to have to lean on AI to be my “manuscript consultant” for as long as possible.

Already, AI has pointed out that my hero is way too passive. That’s one of the structural issues I’m going to have to fix.

A WIP Update

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Things are going pretty well with the scifi dramedy novel I’m working on. Even though at least one of the AIs I’m using balks at the term “dramedy” for the novel. But that is the general goal of the work — I want it to be very much in the same vein as “Her.” Though, admittedly, the Megan Fox vehicle “Subservience” is, in a way, a better comp movie. But my novel is more like if Subservience met The Enteral Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (in my dreams.)

I’m currently in the third act and hope to wrap up this draft in a few weeks if I can stop drifting towards my goal and get my ass in gear. I have something pretty special in play here and it’s just a matter of doing it.

Once I get this draft of the novel finished, I’m going to take a VERY DEEP BREATH and do some structural open heart surgery on it. It’s going to be a serious fucking pain, but it has to be done.

I keep getting nagged by the AIs that I use that my hero is too “passive.” And there are some other issues that simply have to be addressed.

I am a bit annoyed that in the second half of this draft my scenes just are too short. That, too, is going to be something I’m going to really give a lot of thought to. Your scenes are supposed to be, in general, on average 1,000 words.

Though, I will note, that that’s just a rule of thumb. I feel a little uneasy that my scenes in general seem shorter than what they should be. But I think my style on a structural basis is closer to Stieg Larsson than anything else.

Anyway, today I hope to knock out a few scenes and wrap up an complete chapter. That’s the goal, at least. I keep worrying about what literary agents will think of me as a person when they do due diligence on me.

Are they going to think I’m too nuts to take on as a client? I really worry about that. I’m the first to admit that I have some pretty gaping character flaws, but, in general, I mean well.

Or, as the late Annie Shapiro would say, I’m a “delusional jerk with a good heart.”

This novel is very cinematic, if nothing else. Too bad I would be nearly 60 if the absolute best happened and I sold this novel, it became a success and then was adapted into a movie.

That fact continues to give me something to mull.

Things Have Stabilized With This Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On, I Think

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just about to get to the end of the second act with this scifi dramedy I’m working on. It’s been a tough few scenes, though, to write. I just was beginning to feel as if the characters just weren’t very likeable.

And it didn’t help that the AIs I’ve been using to map this novel out really wanted to lean into the very elements of unlikability that I was trying to avoid.

So, I definitely had a little bit of a crisis of faith for a few days there. But I think — think — I’ve finally sorted things out enough that I can start to move faster, especially once I get into the third act.

I think once get fully into the third act, things should move a lot faster. Though, the last time I went through the third act I kind of cheated some just to stress test the outline. As such, there are some scenes that are barely written.

This go round, however, I’m going to force myself to write fully developed scenes.

And THEN, I am going to “color correct” the scenes of the next draft. That is going to take some time. Probably as much as a few months.

Which would keep me on track to begin querying this novel around Sept 1st.

A LOT of chaos is probably going to erupt in my life between now and then, but, if nothing else, just the idea of being able to query gives me some hope.

‘Focus’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I really need to get over myself and read the comp book for my novel, Annie Bot. I’ve flipped through it a little bit and I’m already rattled that it’s a much better written novel than mine.

And, yet, I think that my novel is still written well enough that people will enjoy it. And I do have a really strong backup novel concept that I can explore if something goes wrong with this novel.

My main concern right now is I worry that as I enter the third act of this novel that my characters just aren’t likeable enough. I’m worried that I have to characters who don’t like each other forced to be together and, as such, no one will actually want to finish the fucking novel.

So, as such, I keep daydreaming about this backup novel I have that is much more like Project Hail Mary — a positive protagonist that does something cool and extraordinary.

Now that I have one comp book, I’m worried this is just the beginning of a flood of novels that essentially tell the same story as my novel, just in a different way. But I have to focus. I have to keep going until something really dramatic happens and I have to stop this novel and work on a different one.

If all else fails, I still have my thriller trilogy to work on, but that one would require a lot more work and I simply don’t have forever. I’m not getting any younger.

One thing I wish I could do is focus on more than on project at a time. That would really help things. But, alas, that just isn’t very applicable.

Post-Production Issues When It Comes To This Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I am well on my way to wrapping up some version of this novel just about when I wanted to — around April – May 2026.

But there are a lot — A LOT — of post-production issues that I am going to deal with. One of them is I really need to “color correct” my copy so it’s not a mish-mash of AI slop and my own writing. I need to go in and make as much of it as possible my own writing so people won’t just roll their eyes and call the whole thing “AI slop.”

It’s going to take a while to do that.

And THEN, I have to figure out what I’m going to do about beta readers. So, probably I suspect it could be Sept 1st before I actually begin to query. I hate shit like this.

But, I have to admit, this is the farthest I’ve ever gotten in the process. I actually have a novel that I feel is query-level good.

I Don’t Wanna (For The Moment)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

All the big, strategic moves I’ve done over the years with my efforts to develop, write and finish a novel have happened very suddenly abruptly without much thought. I decided to split one novel into two just because Trump lost the election in 2020.

That makes me feel sad because it reminds me of how long I’ve been struggling to write any sort of novel that’s good enough to query.

Anyway, I keep being in the doldrums with this scifi dramedy novel I’m working on because…it’s just kind of dark. The premise is solid, but I’m afraid no one is going to want to read it because of how dark the premise is — and the fact that it deals with an ostensibly very transactional romantic relationship.

And, yet, I’m just not prepared to scrap it. I keep thinking about other less weighty novel ideas…and I just can’t bring myself to piviot to them. The key issue is, lulz, I just don’t have time anymore to do such a thing.

This is the novel I’m stuck with, so I have to just do it.

I hope to get out of this neutral state pretty soon so I can enter the “bad guys closing in” part of the novel. This is probably going to be something of a slog because it’s not as written out as the rest of the novel.