Tag: literary agents

Update On My Scifi Dramedy WIP Novel For March 17th, 2026

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m officially in the last chapter of this draft of the novel. I have just a few more scenes before I finish this draft and can piviot to editing it on a macro basis by going through and reading it all the way through.

You’re SUPPOSED to pause for a month when doing such things, but I just don’t have the time. My life is on the cusp of being pretty turbulent for a variety of reasons out of my control and as such, lulz, I need to hurry up.

And so, I am going to hopefully wrap this draft up then get down to work to reading the entire novel. I don’t quite know what I will do once I finish that. I guess I will do some structural work before I go through and edit each individual scene.

In the past, I’ve had some trouble reading scene of the novel without breezing through them. But I do need to actually sit down and read the scenes carefully to understand how to make them better.

I continue to worry about what is going to happen on the due diligence front when I actually start to query. I’m such a kook — and always have been — that I’m nervous that that, in itself, will doom any chances I have to ever get published.

But I can’t think like that. I need to have hope in myself.

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.

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.

This Current Draft Of The Scifi Dramedy Novel I’m Working On Is A Real Mish-Mash Of Versions

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While at the moment I’m kind of zooming through the “fun and games” part of the novel I’m working on, it’s probably going to take me a month or two to “color correct” things once I’m done with this draft.

That’s why I’m still thinking Sept 1st will be a more likely moment for me to start seriously querying this thing. That would make a lot of sense — that would be the 20th anniversary of things really getting going with ROKon Magazine in Seoul.

Ugh. So long ago.

Anyway, I’m so fucking moody when it comes to writing that I sometimes just do nothing on the novel for days and then sprint out of the blood for no apparent reason.

I still hope to wrap this novel up ASAP. Then start post-production stuff and probably start developing and writing a new novel to work on while I query. I’m still pretty uneasy about what is going to happen when the woke liberal white women who I imagine make up most of my prospective literary agents do due diligence on me and find this blog.

They probably will recoil and what a kooky crank I am.

But, anyway, it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.