What I Learned About Writing from Pitch Wars!

Pitch Wars is an online writing experience and contest where writers submit a never before published manuscript in the hopes of gaining an author/mentor who will take their manuscript and help them make it the best version of their story before the agent round. I entered Pitch Wars last year with my YA manuscript which I thought was Pitch Wars ready. Boy, was I wrong.

There are online Facebook pages for hopefuls and forums where people share their pages. The more places you visit, the more you will learn. I gained insight and CPs. A CP is a critique partner who will read your pages and give you as much or as little critique as you ask. I wanted my CPs to be brutal. I wanted them to tell me everything right and everything wrong with my pages. When I read my CPs' pages I was blown away. There are some TALENTED writers in the pool that submit to Pitch Wars. Last year, my pages didn't stack up.

What you need for Pitch Wars: You will need a one-page query, a one-page synopsis, a FINISHED manuscript and a coat of armor. You can read about the query, synopsis, story arc, pacing, character and other elements. The more you study and LEARN, the better your manuscript will be.

When I wrote my first manuscript, I was a pantser. I didn't know the ending of the story. I didn't have an outline. I knew who my characters were and what the premise was, but that was it. I didn't yet know who the antagonist was. I didn't know the problems my protagonist would face. That manuscript took my three long years (I have a full time job and family).

My second manuscript was hugely different. Now I'm a planner. I had the idea, characters, outline and ending. I wrote that manuscript in three months and it's leaps and bounds better than the YA manuscript I submitted last year. What's the difference? How did my writing get so much better?

TWITTER. I follow the tags #writingcommunity #writetip #writers #amwriting #amediting #ontheporch and #writing. There are so many great links shared on Twitter by writers, editors, agents, mentors. If you're not active on Twitter, you're limiting your knowledge of upcoming contests, events, freebies, internships and friends for life.

Before the Pitch Wars window opens, many mentors offer giveaways for your first pages, your query and/or your synopsis. You should retweet, follow and comment to all of these. I won several free eyes on my pages both years.

Before you query anything, you should have CPs and beta readers. I am lucky that my best friend for life has a writer brain. She was writing her manuscript as I wrote mine. We traded chapters from the beginning. She is now close to signing with an agent. Currently she has four full asks out to agents. I suspect she'll snag one soon  and her book will follow.

If I don't find a mentor in Pitch Wars this year, I've made so many contacts, learned tons, commented on others' writing and posts, shared information and links, and gained skills to push my book baby into the world. I will query this manuscript until I find that unicorn agent. I know you're out there!