The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2
- Thread starter Calla Lily
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^ What general said. E.g. if your protagonist is a black lesbian woman, it's only own voices if the author is too.
Of course, Michelle is open to books with diversity that aren't own voices, but this 'special offer' only applies to own voices.
Of course, Michelle is open to books with diversity that aren't own voices, but this 'special offer' only applies to own voices.
hi all. just emerging for a breath after forcing myself to finish full round of revisions and busy life events.
I have to sit and see if it works, I have to polish, polish and trim. but I wanted it a least "done" in draft form.
I have to sit and see if it works, I have to polish, polish and trim. but I wanted it a least "done" in draft form.
I got about 2600 words of a new scene written and then, when I went to bed, had no idea why I thought this scene would be better than the one it's replacing. I'm going to keep pugging with it to get it finished and see if it works, but WTF, brain?
Hi gang,
So, I finished my revisions on Friday and decided to take a little time off the computer. I felt very accomplished, so there was wine and vegetarian sushi over the weekend. Also, First Reader has started to read the new version of my WIP and so far, he doesn't think it sucks or that I've made everything worse, so that's something, I guess.
(Also, very pleased with myself that I managed to bring the thing down to approx. 83K words! 
)
Goals for this week: research re-training options. The job-search has been a bust so far. For one thing, 99.9% of advertised part-time jobs are sucky and mostly involve retail, which I'd rather not do. Jobs that are not sucky and that I'm qualified for are 99.9% of the full-time variety and I don't really want full-time and if I did, I'm not sure I want to go back to corporate communications. That's so 'been there, done that,' I think I really need a change. Preferably something that allows me to work from home and away from people. Sometimes being painfully introverted has its disadvantages.
Oh, and remember that job I interviewed for a few months ago and that the competition ended up getting cancelled? Well, they've re-posted it TWICE since then. It certainly makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing: clearly, they have a Very Specific Type of Candidate in mind and so far, in almost 4 months, not a single interviewee has fit the bill. Weird. I feel bad for the people in that shop, because I now they have way too much work in their hands and the Higher Ups are taking their sweet time hiring and giving themselves the luxury of being extra picky. Bizarre. Now I'm actually relieved I didn't get that job!
**
noranne - yay on the BF being back!
Nova -
Congrats on finishing your first pass of edits! 
Jeneral - hey, you never know when detours into Crazy Town are going to end up being genius! Hang in there! You're going to rock this R&R!
tamlyn, krash, Wendy, Hathor, JJ -
So, I finished my revisions on Friday and decided to take a little time off the computer. I felt very accomplished, so there was wine and vegetarian sushi over the weekend. Also, First Reader has started to read the new version of my WIP and so far, he doesn't think it sucks or that I've made everything worse, so that's something, I guess.
(Also, very pleased with myself that I managed to bring the thing down to approx. 83K words! )Goals for this week: research re-training options. The job-search has been a bust so far. For one thing, 99.9% of advertised part-time jobs are sucky and mostly involve retail, which I'd rather not do. Jobs that are not sucky and that I'm qualified for are 99.9% of the full-time variety and I don't really want full-time and if I did, I'm not sure I want to go back to corporate communications. That's so 'been there, done that,' I think I really need a change. Preferably something that allows me to work from home and away from people. Sometimes being painfully introverted has its disadvantages.
Oh, and remember that job I interviewed for a few months ago and that the competition ended up getting cancelled? Well, they've re-posted it TWICE since then. It certainly makes me feel a lot better about the whole thing: clearly, they have a Very Specific Type of Candidate in mind and so far, in almost 4 months, not a single interviewee has fit the bill. Weird. I feel bad for the people in that shop, because I now they have way too much work in their hands and the Higher Ups are taking their sweet time hiring and giving themselves the luxury of being extra picky. Bizarre. Now I'm actually relieved I didn't get that job!
**
noranne - yay on the BF being back!
Nova -
Congrats on finishing your first pass of edits! Jeneral - hey, you never know when detours into Crazy Town are going to end up being genius! Hang in there! You're going to rock this R&R!
tamlyn, krash, Wendy, Hathor, JJ -
As I suspected, the scene I spent the weekend on isn't going to make it into the book. My intention was to write a more "active" scene that would save some info-dumping, but the result was basically two people sitting around talking. Which is the opposite of active. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a few crazy minutes of "I give up, this book has defeated me." I didn't take any drastic action because (1) I was at work, (2) I knew that part of the temper tantrum was because I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, and (3) another part of the temper tantrum was the feeling that I'd wasted a very precious weekend's worth of time going down the wrong path.
Thankfully, a friend (the editor at the folded small press who wanted my book) sent me lots of Hook (from Once Upon A Time) gifs (he's one of the models for my MMC) to cheer me up until I felt better. So she was able to talk me off the ledge, I fiddled with the MS a tiny bit last night but mostly just went to bed while the tropical storm dumped rain on us all night.
And in retrospect, I guess I'm glad I wrote the scene? It was a decent exercise in backstory, even if it never gets seen by anyone.
MC: Good luck on the job search, and woo-hoo on the WIP!
And, oh yeah,
Thankfully, a friend (the editor at the folded small press who wanted my book) sent me lots of Hook (from Once Upon A Time) gifs (he's one of the models for my MMC) to cheer me up until I felt better. So she was able to talk me off the ledge, I fiddled with the MS a tiny bit last night but mostly just went to bed while the tropical storm dumped rain on us all night.
And in retrospect, I guess I'm glad I wrote the scene? It was a decent exercise in backstory, even if it never gets seen by anyone.
MC: Good luck on the job search, and woo-hoo on the WIP!
And, oh yeah,
Well I guess I can say that I have my first rejection letter! LOL. This site is a bit overwhelming. Is there somewhere someone can critique my query letter? The again, my first 5 pages may have sucked....
Here's the rejection (Sorry if I am in the wrong place):
Thanks for your query.
As to your material I'm afraid I will be passing -- I'm just not drawn
strongly enough to the concept of your story to feel that I'd be the
right agent for the project. I realize it is difficult to make an
assessment from a query; nevertheless please know that I give serious
attention to every letter, outline, and writing sample I receive.
Sorry I couldn't give you a more positive reply. Thanks for thinking
of me, though, and best of luck in your search for representation.
Here's the rejection (Sorry if I am in the wrong place):
Thanks for your query.
As to your material I'm afraid I will be passing -- I'm just not drawn
strongly enough to the concept of your story to feel that I'd be the
right agent for the project. I realize it is difficult to make an
assessment from a query; nevertheless please know that I give serious
attention to every letter, outline, and writing sample I receive.
Sorry I couldn't give you a more positive reply. Thanks for thinking
of me, though, and best of luck in your search for representation.
Maxwell - Congrats and sorry for your first rejection! It looks like a form rejection letter, which you shouldn't take too personally. Once you've hit 50 posts, and if you have thick skin, you can post in the Show Your Work forum to have your query critiqued. There are some good resources in that forum too on crafting a query. Good luck!
Congrats and sorry for your first rejection! It looks like a form rejection letter, which you shouldn't take too personally. Once you've hit 50 posts, and if you have thick skin, you can post in the Show Your Work forum to have your query critiqued. There are some good resources in that forum too on crafting a query. Good luck!
He's awfully pretty. I was a couple drafts into the novel when I saw OUAT, saw his blue eyes and dark hair like my guy's, and about fell off the couch.
Ha, I think I got that same rejection, too.
Maxwell, you have to get to 50 posts to post your query in QLH, but you can go there and start critting other queries right now. I highly recommend that. You'll learn a lot from it, and you'll get a feel for how QLH works. Also it's generally expected that anyone asking for help there should give back and help others. Don't worry if you don't feel very confident about giving feedback—you can start by saying what's clear and what's interesting to you. That kind of feedback is very helpful.
Maxwell, you have to get to 50 posts to post your query in QLH, but you can go there and start critting other queries right now. I highly recommend that. You'll learn a lot from it, and you'll get a feel for how QLH works. Also it's generally expected that anyone asking for help there should give back and help others. Don't worry if you don't feel very confident about giving feedback—you can start by saying what's clear and what's interesting to you. That kind of feedback is very helpful.
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Sorry for the all about me whine-fest, but I know you guys will understand. I'm just feeling like a writing failure right now. Not rejection related, but I got a review from a blogger/booktuber and it was only 3.5 stars, though he said he enjoyed it and wanted to read the sequel. I dunno. I know people have different feelings about star ratings and what it means to them, but it just made me feel SSSOOOO mediocre. I've gotten several other 3 stars and 2 stars recently for that and a novella. I know it's a first book and I've improved since then, but it's still bumming me out. Add on top of that this crippling writing block/stall I'm in and I just feel so lame. I can't string sentences together. I feel like my writing mojo has escaped me and my new shiny project is too cool for me to be the writer of it. Like, I can't do my concept justice so why try.
TL
R - I'm depressed and writing sucks.
TL
R - I'm depressed and writing sucks.
Jeneral - no writing time is wasted time--even if it ends up in horrible writing (or in great writing that will nonetheless end up going nowhere). Every bit we do helps us perfect our craft, our story-telling skills and/or to get to know our characters and their backstory better. This book WON'T defeat you. You are going to kick its butt and wow the R&R agents so much they'll be fighting over you! 
Maxwell -
and sorry about your first R 
The first one is the hardest. But like Jeneral and CLP and JJ said, it's a form R, so don't take it personally. Also, do get yourself to 50 posts and you'll be able to post your query in Query Letter Hell (QLH). Even now, go poke around in that thread and read all the stickies there. There's a wealth of info on how to write query letters that do their job. Good luck!
Talana -
Hang in there. We've all been there. Often. Maybe do a few character sketches for that new shiny project? Maybe it will help you remember why YOU are the one to write it. Or take a couple of days off to recharge. Or both. Sending you good vibes.
Maxwell -
and sorry about your first R The first one is the hardest. But like Jeneral and CLP and JJ said, it's a form R, so don't take it personally. Also, do get yourself to 50 posts and you'll be able to post your query in Query Letter Hell (QLH). Even now, go poke around in that thread and read all the stickies there. There's a wealth of info on how to write query letters that do their job. Good luck!Talana -
Hang in there. We've all been there. Often. Maybe do a few character sketches for that new shiny project? Maybe it will help you remember why YOU are the one to write it. Or take a couple of days off to recharge. Or both. Sending you good vibes.
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Welcome, Maxwell! That is my son's name, so I am already inclined to like you.
Talana, sorry for the writing bummers. I hope you start feeling the magic again very soon.
Hey, anyone else planning to do #PitMad on Thursday?
Talana, sorry for the writing bummers. I hope you start feeling the magic again very soon.
Hey, anyone else planning to do #PitMad on Thursday?
Talana - I hope you feel better soon. MC's right - we've all been there in one way or another. Nothing wrong with taking a day or two off to wallow, let yourself feel all crappy, and then get back to it.
MC - you crack me up. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about crazy things like agents fighting over me, but the idea of it made me smile. I'm already planning in the back of my mind what to do next when/if the revision gets turned down. There's a reason I have an Eeyore tattoo... I'd rather plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised.
Lianna - Good luck with PitMad!
MC - you crack me up. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about crazy things like agents fighting over me, but the idea of it made me smile. I'm already planning in the back of my mind what to do next when/if the revision gets turned down. There's a reason I have an Eeyore tattoo... I'd rather plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised.
Lianna - Good luck with PitMad!
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Welcome, Maxwell! That is my son's name, so I am already inclined to like you.
Talana, sorry for the writing bummers. I hope you start feeling the magic again very soon.
Hey, anyone else planning to do #PitMad on Thursday?
I probably will - thanks for the reminder!
(Now I've just got to work out the time difference so I can schedule my tweets accordingly.)
Hugs Talana.
I also practice defensive pessimism.
MC - you crack me up. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about crazy things like agents fighting over me, but the idea of it made me smile. I'm already planning in the back of my mind what to do next when/if the revision gets turned down. There's a reason I have an Eeyore tattoo... I'd rather plan for the worst and be pleasantly surprised.
I also practice defensive pessimism.
Forgive the sprinkling of a response ... Jeneral sounds like you are pushing on with some up hills here and there. I'm here too cheering for you to charge ahead.
Moonchild good luck with the job search. There are not enough part time positions as you described and I'm convinced a good majority of jobs only need to be part time with full pay but we live in a society still trapped with 9-5 I own you notions.
Talana I'm sorry to hear about the blues (hope it's the light blues....) but we are here and if you are doing pitmad will be cheering!
Yeah my manuscript went from so clean to lord how many typos and inconsistencies I need to comb out. Which is not the stage I'm at but it's like oooooh all those copy edit reads for naught.... Well not really but you know what I mean.
Moonchild good luck with the job search. There are not enough part time positions as you described and I'm convinced a good majority of jobs only need to be part time with full pay but we live in a society still trapped with 9-5 I own you notions.
Talana I'm sorry to hear about the blues (hope it's the light blues....) but we are here and if you are doing pitmad will be cheering!
Yeah my manuscript went from so clean to lord how many typos and inconsistencies I need to comb out. Which is not the stage I'm at but it's like oooooh all those copy edit reads for naught.... Well not really but you know what I mean.
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