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And... continuing the post-Labor Day housecleaning, zombie form R on a full #2. Good thing I had no hope left.
Purgatory's Pit of Doom
- Thread starter Branwyn
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(((Fourlittlebees)))
I tell you, Pit, this would be a good day for a request. It would be a very bad day for a full rejection. Hellhounds, please, if one is headed toward my inbox, bite the e-mailman. You can gnaw on my heart all you want tomorrow if you enjoy the taste of black and bitter.
I tell you, Pit, this would be a good day for a request. It would be a very bad day for a full rejection. Hellhounds, please, if one is headed toward my inbox, bite the e-mailman. You can gnaw on my heart all you want tomorrow if you enjoy the taste of black and bitter.
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I'll be under the couch, reading a book in between slamming the couch leg on my fingers so I don't try to type another word.
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Your agent rocks, and you know what, why not?
*Makes room for Soul* Yes, isn't that the truth!
DO NOT PANIC. I am reading the book in question. It is phenomenal. It is amazing. But it is not perfect.
Don't get me wrong, because I love it, but this is the genre I like best (why does that sound sing-songy?) and even with a book this amazing, there are things I know I do differently. No, I'm nowhere NEAR this good at world-building, but I have a different way of developing characters (which is why trunking a book is totally funeral-ific for me). Dear god, I'm Pollyanna-ish, but honestly... I was assuming I'd be committing seppoku at the end of this book. I won't be. I write literary, but it's not like this, and I'm still going to be okay. I think.
4Bs, good point. No, actually, great point. I have these days when I read brilliant writing and wallow in the all the crap. I forget that I'm a different writer and that's okay.
When I gave up my children's books to pursue adult romance and fantasy, I thought it was the end of the world. I realized I wouldn't be the next R0wling, but then I thought, being the next N0ra R0berts wouldn't be so bad. LOL. I had delusions of grandeur back then.
*Scoops up a maggotini* I'd tell you all about the crazy @$$ work day, but then it'd be ranting too much. So, I think I'll drown myself in maggotinis instead.
Snappy, I did the same thing with children's books. I hope it trained me to write a little bit -- at least I learned to keep it simple and that if you have a plot pulling things forward, so much the better.
That is apparently what I don't have...gulping from my garbage can...
i feel like the wizard of Oz...if I only had a plot...
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DO NOT PANIC. I am reading the book in question. It is phenomenal. It is amazing.
I'm sorry, but these words are not allowed in the Pit under any circumstances.
I'm not sure which novel you guys are talking about with the beautiful, sweeping prose, but I believe worrying about that kind of thing can drive you insane. Whether prose is sweeping or not is subjective. So is whether or not an editor likes it.
When I was on sub, one editor complained that my novel had a "sweeping, lofty feel, and I wanted it to be more down to earth." And another said my prose was "too colloquial for fantasy."
When I was on sub, one editor complained that my novel had a "sweeping, lofty feel, and I wanted it to be more down to earth." And another said my prose was "too colloquial for fantasy."
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Word, that's an excellent point. One editor's "sweeping prose" love may be another editor's gripe. Back to the evil word...subjective.
Kellion, I loved writing children's books and it definitely taught me a lot. But, painful when I finally decided it wasn't the direction I need to go.
This day has been absolutely insane, so I freely admit my posts may not have been entirely coherent. But, it did end on a positive note which has been posted in appropriate thread. *Bite that hellhounds*
Kellion, I loved writing children's books and it definitely taught me a lot. But, painful when I finally decided it wasn't the direction I need to go.
This day has been absolutely insane, so I freely admit my posts may not have been entirely coherent. But, it did end on a positive note which has been posted in appropriate thread.
*Bite that hellhounds*
Good points, Word. It is subjective, but I guess it comes down to what kind of writing style you're comfortable with.
I know I can't be a word painter. I can't talk about a chair and make it sound like poetry. I remember reading A Th0us@nd Spl3ndId Svns and there's a description of a child getting tossed in the air by her father that goes on for more than a paragraph. The event is mere seconds, but it was as if H0ussein! has stopped time, bringing to life what the child felt and what she saw while in the air. I was like, crap, I can never write like that. That didn't mean I couldn't get published though.
I opted for a minimilist approach, not so much McM@nn or McC@rthy, but a conservation of words trying to tell the most with the least amount of words. I'm more plotdriven storeteller anyway and that fits me.
I know I can't be a word painter. I can't talk about a chair and make it sound like poetry. I remember reading A Th0us@nd Spl3ndId Svns and there's a description of a child getting tossed in the air by her father that goes on for more than a paragraph. The event is mere seconds, but it was as if H0ussein! has stopped time, bringing to life what the child felt and what she saw while in the air. I was like, crap, I can never write like that. That didn't mean I couldn't get published though.
I opted for a minimilist approach, not so much McM@nn or McC@rthy, but a conservation of words trying to tell the most with the least amount of words. I'm more plotdriven storeteller anyway and that fits me.
This is so true. Even the best-selling writers out there tend to have one strength. With Elmor0e Le0nard it's dialogue; J0hn Gr1sham, it's plot. J@net Evan0vitch has crazy, wacky characters, w/o much depth to them. K1ngsolver wouldn't be able to write an Evan0vitch book nor vice versa. Yet they're both best-selling authors, making oodles of money.
I thank the Hellhounds for not letting any Rs get through, and if they had to let the washing machine overflow to balance it out, well, bless 'em anyway. Everything has a price.
(((4Bs)))
Steve, exactly. Every writer has their own strengths, and the best we can do is hope that we find them and that we like the sorts of stories that showcase them. I cannot write beautiful prose or complex, twisty plots, both of which I love. But there are things I can do well, and I've tried to write the stories that need those things.
(((Kellion))) Boo on the washer overflow, but if something has to give....
Logged on to discover an email from the agent and had a mini heart attack thinking it's the pass I'm dreading. Fortunately, it was just her asking me for my cell number and letting me know she's impatient for news, too. That (1) in the inbox can induce nightmares.
Steve, exactly. Every writer has their own strengths, and the best we can do is hope that we find them and that we like the sorts of stories that showcase them. I cannot write beautiful prose or complex, twisty plots, both of which I love. But there are things I can do well, and I've tried to write the stories that need those things.
(((Kellion))) Boo on the washer overflow, but if something has to give....
Logged on to discover an email from the agent and had a mini heart attack thinking it's the pass I'm dreading. Fortunately, it was just her asking me for my cell number and letting me know she's impatient for news, too. That (1) in the inbox can induce nightmares.
(4bs)
*snuggles snappy* What happened? Boo to shitty ass days
ack Ink! Good to know it wasn't anything bad, though
Highlight of my day - picking up halloween decorations. I LOVE halloween. HA still it's sad when that's the highlight of my week!
*snuggles snappy* What happened? Boo to shitty ass days
ack Ink! Good to know it wasn't anything bad, though
Highlight of my day - picking up halloween decorations. I LOVE halloween. HA still it's sad when that's the highlight of my week!
(((Ink)))
Being on sub is horrible. It actually made me physically ill. But it sounds like your agent is a good communicator, and actually sympathetic. Big bonus there.
Being on sub is horrible. It actually made me physically ill. But it sounds like your agent is a good communicator, and actually sympathetic. Big bonus there.
I'm on pretend sub and that's the worst of all worlds. It's kind of like being on sub because I have four editors reading requested manuscripts (it's a round, if a small one), but it's an illusion because they won't buy. They all know no one else wants this book so they won't want it either.
I have the same eye twitch I had last time I was on sub, and I have gained five pounds, so in that sense, it's like being on sub.
I have the same eye twitch I had last time I was on sub, and I have gained five pounds, so in that sense, it's like being on sub.
Eh, it's all pretend at this point, Word. I am the bottom manuscript in the pile -- they know no auction is breaking out.
It's funny though -- when you have four agents reading, that sounds pretty good. You have a decent chance at an offer. Four editors? Pfft. That's nothing. If you had an agent, you'd have 15.
It's funny though -- when you have four agents reading, that sounds pretty good. You have a decent chance at an offer. Four editors? Pfft. That's nothing. If you had an agent, you'd have 15.
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