Hi, I'm Sally...
About a year ago I decided to pull the trigger and write a full-length novel. Yep, cliche and naive, right?
Am I good enough? Will I flop? Is it a total waste of time?
I needed validation. I needed a critique group to tell me I wasn’t completely out of my league.
When I Googled “finding critique groups on-line,” a link to Jane Friedman’s site (aka writing guru extraordinaire) popped up. I checked out her blog page and just about any question relating to writing or publishing, she’d written or posted an article about it. I bookmarked her homepage and went to the link that brought me to her site in the first place: How To Find The Right Critique Group Or Partner For You. I was ecstatic! Everything I wanted in a group - easy to use format, variety in group size and genre, and around the clock accessibility - was available at Inked Voices, an online critique forum, founded and led by a fellow mom and writer, Brooke McIntyre.
I stalked the site for a few days.
What if this was a cover for some underground group of ghostwriters stealing ideas and outlines from new writers? What if readers laugh at my work? What if nobody likes me?!
I hesitated. There was also a membership fee, and with little expenditure in my account, I couldn’t afford to waste it on some fluke endeavor. I had to be sure. I had to be commit.
Finally, I stopped obsessing over it and signed up for one year. I figured if I got nothing from it in the first few months, I’d chalk it up as another one of life’s funny lessons. I joined a half-dozen groups and in a matter of weeks, I found my people. During those first couple of months submitting, reading, and revising, I got a quick dose of reality in the writing community:
Criticism’s essential. If I wanted to get better, I was going to have to accept constructive criticism and adapt or revise as needed.
Sometimes reading the work of others just sucks. In some of the groups I started with, there were submissions I wasn’t particularly drawn to - some I wished had never clicked “submit.” But if I wanted to post my next chapter, I had to get with the program and read the work of my peers - like it or not. (*Most groups work on an accrued credit system.)
Every writer has their own voice…so don’t overpower it. I had to be sure my critiques were constructive for the writer’s vision - not my own. Each writer had their own style and message s/he wanted to convey; my delivery might be entirely different than theirs.
Eventually, I dwindled my half-dozen groups down to three and after six months, I finished my first project (a novella about a foster girl taken in by a single woman in the Colorado foothills). I was confident and ready to query an agent - I’d made a list of forty or so from Google searches. I sent out what I thought was a great query and waited, sure they’d sign me on the spot. It wasn’t long before the cold truth came trickling back: REJECTION.
What was wrong with these people? Didn’t they know how talented and dedicated I was? Didn’t they “get my vision?”
Soon enough, reality settled in. If I wanted to be a writer, I was going to have to get used to those all too familiar form letters and fast.
Then, I got a nibble. One agent requested my manuscript. She said she had a stack ahead of mine, but she’s loved what she’d read so far.
Loved what she’d read?!
I held my breath…for 4 months. She replied. “This is a little too simplistic for YA…but you are a very lovely writer with an excellent handle on craft…I'd love to see other work from you, so if you want to skip the slush, you can send it directly to me when you are ready.”
Simplistic?
I could work with that! She gave me a crumb trail to follow - I had to up my stakes. Fortunately, I was already working on my second novel and could apply this to my current work.
Over the next five months, I read, edited, and revised again until I was certain my manuscript was squeaky clean and ready to submit. This time I also took the alternate track to my submission process and joined Query Tracker and bought the 28th Annual Edition of Guide To Literary Agents 2019. I had to cast my net even further, so I joined a few writing forum groups for additional feedback on constructing the most attractive letter to an agent. A consisting trend I found from the guide and forums, was the importance of having a good website, healthy social media following, and a blogging voice.
But I’m a writer, not a marketing expert! What if I screw up?
Still, I didn’t want to say I never really tried…
The past couple of months have been brutal. I’ve taken great liberties to build a social media presence (Facebook likes = 0, Twitter = 300+ followers). I’m doing my best to learn as I go - reading as much as I can about how to build your brand in these outlets. Instagram’s on my radar, but I haven’t started that account yet. Baby steps are all I can take right now. I’ve made a commitment to put in a year’s worth of sweat and time to bring my goals to fruition. My vision board’s papered with laws of attraction: I will be published. I am a writer.
This morning I woke at 5am with an unexpected urge to write the blog I’ve been avoiding for the past year. Abstract and expert content aren’t my strengths, however I’ve found a solid footing in baring my soul to other writers, agents, and readers (thanks Michael Pozdnev for your article on How To Write Your First Blog Post). Now, I feel readier than ever to kick my fears to the curb and share the side of me I hope you’ll like (or at least get a good laugh from). My goal is to keep the momentum at a steady pace of daily writing 200-2000 words, reading and critiquing. I’ve created somewhat of a routine - and that’s something coming from a mom of 3 unpredictable wee ones.
Juries still out for 70% of my queries on novel number two (sent over 100 which I’ve read is a good range to cast your net), but as the lessons from this come back, be ready for some great reading material!
In the meantime, if you’ve got a story to share or advice to give, I’m all ears (barring trolling or get-rich-quick-schemes).
Thanks for checking me out and until next week’s edition: Writing’s Like Skiing…
Peace and other positive words to live by,
—
Simply Sally