A Bump in the Road to Publication

It was always my intention, when blogging and sharing with everyone, to be excruciatingly and heartbreakingly honest about my own personal journey to becoming a published novelist.

So in the interest of being truthful, I have to say . . .

Rejection stinks. It does . . . really, really badly.

Enjoy the excerpt from my latest "make you feel good" letter I received.

" . . . I believe your writing has a lot of potential, and particularly enjoyed your gift for sharp characterization and witty dialogue. (I'll admit, I laughed out loud at the marriage proposal scene in chapter one.) Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I had some trouble with plausibility elements in your plot . . ."

My first reaction upon scanning the note was: Seriously? Plausibility elements? Did she READ my manuscript? Plausibility elements . . . HA! What does that even mean anyway?

Needless to say, I was not a very happy person. I looked at my husband with an evil glare, about to begin a tirade.

"Why don't you call Cheryl?" he asked hastily, with a bit of fear in his voice.

So I did. And I ranted. And I questioned. And I battled the sense of failure that threatened to overwhelm me.

I spent the rest of the afternoon obsessing on the phone over each minute plot twist and each character trait. I analyzed the emotions and the motivations, wondering where I crossed from amusing story to the land of the unrealistic.

And we found them--the "plausibility elements" I refused to believe existed. I won't go into the details other than to say I had wrapped up my novel with a beautiful, shiny, unbelievable fictional bow (I'll let Cheryl explain that one later). To make a long story short, the revised idea is even better than the original. I'm reenergized in my quest to publish the next great American novel (or something like it).

All is not lost. That's what I really learned last weekend. And I have a suspicion that, before long, I'll actually be thankful for this rejection.

--Mandy