Poking At Things

So I sent out copies to the short list of folks who I felt I could trust with my novel.

The only response to the manuscript itself has been "um, why did you do your paragraph breaks that way?" coupled with a promise to read in more detail when time was available.

I held my breath for a month and a half and avoided even looking at the thing, lest I find myself changing words and then having to send the thing all over again. Then, a few nights ago in a fit of insomnia, I finally reached some kind of breaking point and ended up rewriting two scenes in one particular chapter.

I packed up the revised chapter and sent it out. This time, I got a few responses of the "life's been crazy busy" variety. Can't really complain about that, given that I knew that was likely to be the case going in. Any response I get at all is a gift, and I accept that.

I think I will probably continue to refine the language and restrain myself from any rewrites that will significantly affect the structure of the novel itself until I get some feedback from my inner circle on whether the story itself holds up or not, which is the main thing I'm worried about.

So we shall see.