Just got back from a writer's conference. On Saturday, I pitched to an agent who liked my premise and requested a synopsis and three chapters. Yay! Then today she read my first chapter in a workshop and didn't like it at all. She stopped reading after the first sentence. So...not so much yay.
Obviously, I can't send her that. Do I revise the opening, send it, and hope she doesn't recognize it as the clunker she so despised earlier? Do I revise and mention that I've done so based on her critique? Do I just quietly go away and try, try again?
The thing is - I am not even sure if my opening is truly bad or just not to her taste. If I learned one thing at this conference, it's that everything is subjective. There were many times agents would give conflicting advice or conflicting opinions over anonymously submitted queries and first pages. I pitched to three agents and got three very different responses to my premise, plot, voice, main characters....
It's just very hard to know if the problem is the manuscript or the problem is finding the right agent.
Obviously, I can't send her that. Do I revise the opening, send it, and hope she doesn't recognize it as the clunker she so despised earlier? Do I revise and mention that I've done so based on her critique? Do I just quietly go away and try, try again?
The thing is - I am not even sure if my opening is truly bad or just not to her taste. If I learned one thing at this conference, it's that everything is subjective. There were many times agents would give conflicting advice or conflicting opinions over anonymously submitted queries and first pages. I pitched to three agents and got three very different responses to my premise, plot, voice, main characters....
It's just very hard to know if the problem is the manuscript or the problem is finding the right agent.