Writing Style Confusing

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bocabum

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Hey

Has anyone even been told by an agent, after passing on a partial, that their writing style was confusing??

*crosses her fingers in hopes that she's not the only one*
 

dawinsor

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I can't say I have. Was the agent more specific? It's hard to guess what s/he meant with just that one word.

Have you asked beta readers if they could follow your story? Or perhaps posted a sample in the Share Your Work thread?
 

bocabum

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Nope. The agent didn't get specific. Just said my writing style was confusing.

No, I haven't posted any of my manuscript. I'm a little paranoid about posting anything to the internet. Not to sound lame or pathetic, but my best friend, (who ingests 5-6 novels a week, and has been for most of her born existence) read my entire manuscript and didn't find it at all confusing. I've had 2 other people read it as well, and they, as well, didn't find it confusing.

I'm just wondering if that was the agent's way of saying no? Who knows!
 

Clair Dickson

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Posting on Share York Work is safe-- it's a password protected forum (not searched by googlebots) and no one here wants to steal new ideas (we have more than enough of our own.)

But your sample size of readers is small. Have you talked about your story with them? Are they critical readers? (Example: my cousin loves to read. But she doesn't analyze what she's reading-- it's just fun. She would not be a good beta reader because she likes almost everything she reads.)

Do you headhop? Shift POVs? Have a bunch of terminology or a whole bunch of names introduced early on? Lots of characters that come and go in scenes? These are all things I can think that would be confusing. Hope it helps.
 

Karen Duvall

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I'll bet it's a subjective comment, the agent's opinion only. I had an agent tell me my style was awkward. The agent who signed me doesn't think so. So don't let individual tastes bother you. She/he didn't get it, so move on to someone who will.
 

bocabum

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I actually emailed the first 5 chapters to a friend of mine, who edits stuff, although she's extremely busy, and I don't think she's gotten around to reading it yet. I don't want to bother her, but I'm anxiously awaiting a response!

The rejection letter just really bummed me out, because foolishly, I had put all my proverbial eggs into that agents' basket. And, typically, I over analyzed every word and punctuation mark within the letter.

I'm just jumping the gun, I know, I've only been querying for a month and a half. Patience is definitely a virtue I don't possess!
 

KikiteNeko

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I can't say I've heard that, no. But if more than one agent says it, I'd take a look at your writing and try to improve that aspect. I recommend posting in SYW. It's helpful.
 
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