Now, I had a choice, I could mope around and cry, or I could move forward.
I decide to move forward.
Working with my agent, we work on revisions for two other books. I’d like to pause right here and add my two cents about revisions. I had NO idea how lucky I was when the AGENT loved my book and immediately sent it out to several major publishing houses. He asked for zero revisions, he felt it was ready to go. This rarely happens. I soon realized that this was not the norm! While he liked two of my other novels, I needed to do major revisions to them before he felt ready to send them out to publishers. However, if an agent is willing to work with you on revisions, this means you are on the right path. It means he/she sees something in your writing. It means he/she sees you being published one day. And while revisions are tough, know that you are on your way. Everyone has to do revisions, it’s part of the business. Well established, best-selling authors need to do revisions too. Expect them. Learn from them. Consider it a free education in preparing a novel for publishers. But, don’t give up!
I have one rule for myself when it comes to revisions. I will make changes to my novels, but I have to LIKE the changes too. I won’t make changes that cause me to hate my plot. (That being said, all of my revision work was on plot elements, I’m not talking about grammar here). Many of the revisions gave me ‘aha’ moments. I learned how to streamline a plot. I spent one year working with THE AGENT and it was a valuable year wherein I learned a wealth of information. Specifically, I learned to edit or remove that ‘precious’ paragraph that I thought was so amazing, but wasn’t. I learned to look at my writing with a critical eye without getting upset or discouraged or frustrated. If I do have a wonderful paragraph or plot element that I love, but has to be removed for whatever reason, I save it for another book.
A valuable lesson.
Image: arztsamui / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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