(Match.com for your main character)
Your manuscript is complete. You’ve got a killer plot. Your pacing is fabulous. The dialogue is pithy, yet realistic, the setting great, and the story is a completely imaginative idea. But your MC’s voice sucks.
That means you’re out of the game.
“I’m much more likely to keep reading if I know from that perfectly-executed first page that this character is someone who interests me, someone whose story I’d like to get lost in.”
– Holly Root, Waxman Literary
“We must admit a fondness for novels with memorable characters and a unique voice.”
– Josh Adams, Adams Literary
“What I look for is a strong voice that immediately sweeps me away, a strong sense of character.”
– Danielle Chiotti, Upstart Crow
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve heard/read it a million times. They wanna fall in love with your main character. If they don’t, your in-box will have more rejections than Viagra ads.
So, how do you find out if your MC is boring as cardboard, or someone the whole world would want to date? More importantly, if your MC’s voice isn’t quite right, how do you fix it?
You come to the party!
The first and third Wednesday of every month, Tammy and Fiona are throwing a MC speed dating party. First Wednesday on Tammy’s blog (http://tcmckeewriter.blogspot.com/), third Wednesday on Fiona’s blog (http://agelessdruids.blogspot.com/). You send us the first chapter of your ms (no more than 2000 words), and we’ll post it here for comments specifically directed toward your MC’s voice. Is it believable? Engaging? Provocative? If not, why? What will you have to change to make your MC someone we all want to date (or at least read more about)?
Starting today, we’re accepting submissions of up to 2000 words. We’ll post the first submission next Wednesday, July 18th for helpful comments. So send us something. Hurry! Who knows? We might even help you meet your dream agent/date.
Submissions to: eponamacroi at yahoo dot ie AND tmckee34 at gmail dot com