This will be quick because I’m sort of freaking out.
You guys. As of today…I HAVE A LITERARY AGENT!!!!
Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary has offered to represent me and TNWSY. I honestly can’t believe it.
She’s the nicest person, and truly a great fit, and I can’t believe she chose me.
Best. Day. Ever.
(Longer post tomorrow when my hands stop shaking.)
[Before I begin…for those interested, here’s my query! And the first 250 words! And the title! I didn’t “win” this contest, but I made it to the top 25 which is awesome in itself. I’d love to hear what you all think.]
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Querying. Is. Hard.
I knew it would be – every writer does – but I wasn’t prepared for it to be as engrossing as writing the actual book. I’ve been rejected a few times already, which is fine. I’m still going, still processing, still sending queries out. But like I said – it’s hard.
I think my biggest problem is second guessing myself. It’s smart to query agents who represent what you write. It’s smart to target those who have worked with similar books. But there’s still that…on a pedestal feeling, I suppose. I find an agent who represents YA contemporary romance. I look at their client list. I find authors I love. And then I feel…not worthy. As if my book doesn’t compare at all to those other books. As if it’s not as good.
Of course I shouldn’t feel that way, but sometimes it happens and I just skip that agent. When I shouldn’t. I should send them an email because, really, what’s the worse that could happen? I receive another rejection? Fine!
It’s easy to second guess. It’s much harder pushing through. So, today I’m doing just that. I’m querying those agents who represent similar books that I love. And perhaps I’ll be rejected, but that’s completely fine. At least I tried, right?
What are some things you’ve second guessed yourself about? And how did you power through?
You know that quote “80% of success is just showing up?” I feel writing is similar. Success is just doing it in the first place. In regards to that, I just read a great post by author Allison Winn Scotch about writing. Check it out here.
I think it’s the same once you’re done writing the book. After you’re done, you have to do something with it, right? So I am! I’m not going to chronicle all of my queries and requests and rejections. That’ll just be annoying. But I will state one bit of success I’ve had thus far. My query has made it to the second round of a contest judged by two agents. There are 25 finalists in total. Six will have requests for full manuscripts, and quite a few will get critiques and comments, or even partial requests. Honestly, while I’d love a request, I’m just really excited about the critiques. I’ll know what I did right, did wrong, need to improve on. That way I can send a better more prepared query out next. It’s a learning process, no?
Once the contest is closed, I’ll link over to my entry. I’d love to know all of your opinions.
First page of "Dharma Bums." Editor's comments in pencil. Kerouac's comments in red.
Here’s a fun fact for you: when Jack Kerouac wrote Dharma Bums, he wasn’t touring the country or in a small apartment in New York City, he was living here in Orlando. My library actually has the original DB manuscript, edits and all. It’s really remarkable to see.
What I found to be hilarious, though, was how Kerouac actually rejected most of the edits suggested. There’s actually a page where he wrote “Viking Press changes that I rejected.” How crazy is that!
I’ve discussed earlier how I actually love getting critiques. Sure it hurts somtimes, but that’s good. Because I know the people who are editing are helping the book, not hurting me. And that’s my ultimate goal, isn’t it?
I say all of this because…the editing phase is finally done on TNWSY. I sent out my first query yesterday. I’m nervous, of course, but also extremely excited. I know there will be rejections, I know there will be hard times, but I also know I worked hard on the book, and I’m excited that it actually turned into something. Something someone might see one day.
Wish me luck!
I’ve read so many articles where writers described how their characters talked to them. How the characters led the story and made decisions of their own. And I thought it was so cool. I wanted that to happen. I wanted my characters to come alive and be something more than 2D ideas. But every time I wrote, it never happened. I realized later it was because I never got to know them enough to allow them to come alive.
As I wrote TNWSY, I had a general idea of how the book would start and end. I had a beginning fleshed out and finish line all of the characters were running towards. But as for the middle, there was just a bare skeleton guiding me. Sure, I had ideas of what would happen to get them from point a to point b, but never real concrete plans. I was scared, of course, that I wouldn’t figure it all out.
But as I approached an undecided part, I found scenes coming to me. Not always easily, but they came quickly and excitingly. My characters decided they didn’t want to stay at a party, instead they wanted to go out. They told me where they should go, they led the story. And it was absolutely amazing. Even my ending, the one I previously plotted, was changed. They thought it was too cheesy, of course.
After I finished, I went back and re-read it. Starting with the first chapter, I noticed how out of character some quotes were, how unauthentic. That’s how I realized my characters had voices. As soon as I realized that, I knew I was on the right track.
That’s not to say my story is perfect or even complete – even right now I’m finding new things to change and add. I’m just saying that, despite it never happening before, it is possible for characters to come alive. It’s amazing and crazy and, well, magical. They create stories of their own, and, as a writer, it’s our job to just catch up.
Lauren Gibaldi 