Developing Thick Skin
By Sunny Sabella
Finally, I stopped playing the comma "hokey-pokey," truly believing my manuscript was in the best shape it could be in, and decided the time was right to try my hand at submission.
I was lucky enough to land a one-on-one interview with a literary agent. The day of the conference I was nervous, but once I sat down and began talking, I could tell she was interested in my pitch. After all, I had gone over it for hours and hours the previous week. But even after all the preparations and votes of confidence from my writing friends, I was shocked and surprised when she asked to see the entire manuscript. Oh, and here's a little heads-up for those of you who have never spoke to an agent--they're human. Along with talking about my manuscript, we chatted about other things. Honest, she looked like a regular person and laughed and coughed and everything!
After having my first three short story submissions accepted for publication, I thought this whole agent thing and being a published author might not be as difficult as everyone had said it would be. They liked me after all. Heck the agent even made small talk, suggesting books she enjoyed and which she thought I might enjoy as well. So, maybe I'd be one of those hated authors we all read about in Writer's Digest. You know, the ones who say they wrote a book in eight months, found an agent in one week and a publisher in two and of course, now their novel is a number one best seller from coast to coast.
WRONG. It took eight weeks for my rejection letter to arrive FedEx from the agent who seemed to hang on my every word. But take heart, it wasn't a "bad" rejection. It was a good one. Let me explain. Most rejections from agents are usually cold, standard form letters. My rejection letter was a personal one, stating everything the agent liked about the novel. In fact, what she liked far outweighed what she didn't. But, and this is a big but, she decided not to represent me because of the couple of "not likes."
This was a setback, but I felt it was a good setback. So did all my author friends. When I showed the rejection letter to Joe Konrath, author of "Whiskey Sour," he practically did a dance in the middle of the WaldenBooks store. After all, the agent didn't criticize my characters or plot. Instead, she said she liked my heroine and felt the story worked. But I did take a long, hard look at what she didn't like, and I changed those things that I agreed were holding the novel back.
No big deal. I could handle that.
While awaiting the agent's decision, I entered the first thirty pages and the synopsis of my novel to five national RWA contests. This week I received score sheets from two of them.
Now I know why every published author has said to develop thick skin. I received one review that stated my entry was dynamite from start to finish, while another reviewer politely told me the whole story was a yawn.
Still another reviewer told me she could not sympathize one iota with my heroine because she needed to hear more of her inner thoughts about everything that was going on around her. I don't know about you, but when I read a romance novel that dwells on the inner thoughts of the characters, I tend to skip over it. I thought I was supposed to "show" how the character was feeling, at least some of the time, opposed to telling. Hmmm.
Another reviewer wanted detailed descriptions of every character and location. She even placed arrows throughout the manuscript showing me where blocks of description should go. Hey, wait a minute. Wasn't I told to break up descriptions throughout the chapter or passage? I thought blocks of description were a no-no? A turn-off? Hmmm. I can actually feel the scales forming on my skin right now.
The bottom line is I received a different opinion from every single judge. Some loved it, some didn't. I was happy to at least remain in the top 75% range, only receiving a 61 grade from the judge who wanted more inner thoughts and lots of detail. But it did make me stop--stop writing. All these other people's ideas had succeeded in bringing me down. After all, these are published authors--real writers. If they're telling me my work is not up to par, than why bother?
I hung my head and trudged through the next few days, believing I'd never write another word, until I stumbled across author Carly Phillips' web site. If you know romance, you know Carly Phillips. She's a NY Times best selling author with several romance novels under her belt. In one of her many interviews, she is asked what is the best trait an author can possess. Her answer: Thick skin.
Ms. Phillips wrote ten complete novels before one was finally accepted for publication. Now, many of those "rejected" novels are or will be published. Her message is the same as every author I've had the pleasure to talk to. Persevere. Don't quit. Never give up.
Reading her words gave me the boost I needed. And I learned something else, too. Contests are good. And believe me, some of those same judges gave me excellent advice, catching a mistake or two that went unnoticed by yours truly. Some of their critiques were helpful to me, and I plan on doing some editing.
But, for the most part, what they gave me was their personal opinion. And I learned a valuable lesson--after my stomach stopped churning and I wasted a whole day chanting, "I am not a writer, I'm a fraud." No matter what someone says about your writing--don't stop writing because of it. Every major author has received a rejection or a not so glowing review.
It also showed me the power of one voice. Just as I said I had one judge who absolutely loved my novel and couldn't get enough of it, perhaps that next one voice will be a future agent or editor I submit my manuscript to? The power of one voice worked for Carly Phillps, who credits Kelly Ripa with aiding in her success. Kelly chose Carly's novel, "The Bachelor" for the Reading with Ripa Book Club, which Phillips believes, sparked her 6 week stay on the NY Times Bestseller list.
My advice to you, the fellow writer, is to invest in some sand paper and start rubbing--your skin! Develop that hard layer of skin. And while you're scouring away, repeat after me, "I write, so, therefore I am a writer. And no one can take that away from me."
Oh, and by the way, the grammar that I was so concerned about? I received the highest marks in grammar and the written art by every judge in every contest I entered. Hmmm, makes me wonder--wonder what I'm going to write next!!!!
~~Sunny~~