Random Thoughts – sarahjacksonwriter

More rejections and moving on

Errgh. I’m feeling a bit like Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons at the moment. I’ve had nine rejections in three months. Okay, these were for different six different pieces of work, and three of them were for competitions (I count not being short listed as a rejection as it means that I my work didn’t meet the required standard). I should be mighty pleased with myself because I had items to submit, and I actually made the effort to put them out there.

Also, the rejections I got from journals and publishers were very supportive. Gone are the days when I don’t hear at all, or get the standard one-liner email. I actually get some useful advice and suggests. It’s taken me a number of years to get to this stage, and thanks to the support from friends, fellow writers, the Ladybird’s Facebook writers group, and all of those good folk who’ve rejected my work.

I’m prepared to move on up into the next phase of writing. Time to stop feeling sorry for myself, reflect on the good advice I’ve received, and review those pieces and projects.

And don’t you give up either!

Panic editing, pitching and other messy processes.

I am bang, smack in the middle of rewriting (and I mean rewriting) my cosy mystery story. I received some exceedingly valuable feedback from an agent about this piece, and what it needs to reach a marketable point. Scary advice – but once I stopped sulking, and really looked it, I realised that she was right. The suggested changes will make a huge difference to the readability (and saleability) of the piece.

So now I’m in the middle of an anxiety-producing rewrite. I have no idea if I’m going to make the Easter deadline either. Having said that, it cheered me greatly to see a post from a fellow writer on a facebook writers group (of which I am a member). She said that it had taken her 18 months to (a) deal with the feedback, (b) redraft her story, and (c) finish the draft to a submittable level. Good to know that I’m not the only one paralysed by fear at the prospect of a rewrite. So, its onwards and upwards with that one.

And just to make my writers journey more challenging, I’ve finished the rewrite of my new junior grade fiction novel, prepared the pitching materials and synopsis, and am about to embark of the process of submitting it to various publishers. Expect that rejection widget to see some action over the next three months. Hey, you never know, I may actually get an acceptance/show of interest!.

Fingers crossed. Keep up your writing!