MAKING THE NOVEL ADDS NEW CATEGORY!

A writer asked if I would turn MAKING THE NOVEL into a print book. I said, "Perhaps, but I have to see how the project goes and we’re still in its early days." I do appreciate the enthusiasm underlying the question, of course!  But because it’s still in its early days, I’m also still refining the project concept and, today, decided to add a fourth category (the asterisked one below) so that the project would be comprised of

EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS

EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS

EXCERPTS DELETED WHILE WRITING UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS*

EXCERPTS FROM FAILED NOVELS

MAKING THE NOVEL is really intended to reveal more about the arduity of working in this long form. I initially thought that EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED NOVELS would encompass the new category of EXCERPTS DELETED WHILE WRITING UNPUBLISHED NOVELS. But my own experience indicates this is not the case, that is, while writing my first draft I also cut out excerpts even before the first draft was finished. So I decided to create a category for those deleted excerpts too.

So if you are writing/have written an unpublished novel, and you’ve already cut out some parts of that, this category is for you. Please share! I don’t want this project to be about my work so I’m limiting my participation but an example for this category could be a prologue I’d written for my first novel which I later deleted (as I decided the novel didn’t require a prologue).

Please continue spreading the word about this project. As a published novelist recently emailed, “I don’t think people realize just how much a story changes even after acquisition from a publisher.” And of course the story changed a lot more even before said acquisition. I think it’s helpful to make the process as transparent as possible.

I also reorganized the order of the excerpts to adjust the inclusion of this new category; I think this structure is better for showing the novel’s challenges.

Of course, do let me know if you or others you know may have contributions to these categories. 

MAKING THE NOVEL--EDITION 2

You are invited to see the latest novelists added to MAKING THE NOVEL.

For convenience, I replicate the updated Table of Contents below:

***

The MAKING THE NOVEL project is divided into three parts:

EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS

EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS

EXCERPTS FROM FAILED NOVELS

We are grateful to the novelists, published and unpublished, for participating. Click on names below to go to the writers' contributions. For convenience, I place an asterisk by each newly-added author's name with each update:

A Project Introduction & Submissions Information
Eileen R. Tabios

EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS
John Bloomberg-Rissman*
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Lynn Crawford
Heather L. Davis
Martha King
Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor*
Monica Macansantos
Mary Mackey (2)*
Sandy McIntosh
Jose Padua
Tony Robles
Linda Ty-Casper*

Forthcoming:
John Bloomberg-Rissman (2).
Timothy Bradford
M. Evelina Galang
Cristina Querrer
More To Come


EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS

Sesshu Foster
Mary Mackey
Reine Arcache Melvin*
Jason Tanamor*

Forthcoming:
Eric Gamalinda
Renee Macalino Rutledge
More To Come

EXCERPTS FROM "FAILED NOVELS" (as defined by their writers)
Ken Edwards
Brian Marley
Eileen R. Tabios
More To Come


ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

**

Submission Information: If you are interested in sharing an excerpt or deleted excerpt from your novel, go HERE for information.
Contact: email Eileen R. Tabios, at nalandaten at gmail dot com

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. – Ray Bradbury

When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that novel I return to the earlier novel and rewrite much of it. In the meantime the second novel lies in a desk drawer. – Joyce Carol Oates

The things that the novel does not say are necessarily more numerous than those it does say and only a special halo around what is written can give the illusion that you are reading also what is not written. – Italo Calvino

"When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done." — Stephen King

MAKING THE NOVEL!

I'm delighted to announce a new project that's focused on the arduous challenge of writing the novel. I invite you to read, participate (whether, as a novelist, you're published or unpublished), and/or spread the word to novel-lovers and novelists who may be interested in participating. The project is MAKING THE NOVEL. You can see it at its link, but here also is the inaugural release's Table of Contents for convenience:

The MAKING THE NOVEL project is divided into three parts:

EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS

EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS

EXCERPTS FROM FAILED NOVELS

We are grateful to the novelists, published and unpublished, for participating. Click on names below to go to the writers' contributions:

A Project Introduction & Submissions Information
Eileen R. Tabios

EXCERPTS FROM UNPUBLISHED or IN-PROGRESS NOVELS
Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Lynn Crawford
Heather L. Davis
Martha King
Monica Macansantos
Sandy McIntosh
Jose Padua
Tony Robles

Forthcoming:
M. Evelina Galang
Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor
Cristina Querrer
More To Come


EXCERPTS THAT HAD BEEN DELETED FROM PUBLISHED NOVELS

Sesshu Foster
Mary Mackey

Forthcoming:
Eric Gamalinda
Reine Arcache Melvin
Renee Macalino Rutledge
More To Come

EXCERPTS FROM "FAILED NOVELS" (as defined by their writers)
Ken Edwards
Brian Marley
Eileen R. Tabios
More To Come


ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

**

Submission Information: If you are interested in sharing an excerpt or deleted excerpt from your novel, go HERE for information.
Contact: email Eileen R. Tabios, at nalandaten at gmail dot com

Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed. – Ray Bradbury

When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that novel I return to the earlier novel and rewrite much of it. In the meantime the second novel lies in a desk drawer. – Joyce Carol Oates

The things that the novel does not say are necessarily more numerous than those it does say and only a special halo around what is written can give the illusion that you are reading also what is not written. – Italo Calvino

"When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done." — Stephen King