THE CAREER NOVELIST
Panicky notes accompany these rewrites. The notes implore me to
"DISREGARD THE EARLIER VERSION!" How much different are the
rewritten pages? Usually not much. After a while the process seems
a bit silly. It is symptomatic of low empowerment.
The answer is to cultivate objectivity about your writing, even
though at the end of a year or two (or more) of writing objectivity is
the last thing you may feel. But try. Step back. Put the manuscript
aside for a while. Read it again with a fresh eye. When you are sure
you feel good about it—and about yourself—the novel is done. It is
finally time to submit it for consideration.
Oh, what does it matter? No one's going to want it anyway. You are no
fool. You know the score. If you are extremely lucky you might land
a decent agent but the odds are against it, right?
If this describes you, you are also having a common experience.
Offering your work in the marketplace is risky. The chances of get-
ting hurt—even humiliated—are high. The easiest way to lessen the
pain of rejection is to plan for it in advance.
The problem with this defense mechanism is that it leads
authors to feel that the process is out of their hands. Why discrimi-
nate? Why push? Why feel anything but shock and joy when some
randomly chosen agent finally says yes. No reason. And so begins
many a woeful publishing tale.
I don't know where to begin. "Help! There's too much information! All
these lists! How do I know which agency would be best?"
There's no panic worse than that of beginning a scary task. One
way to cope is to put it off. Another is to rush. Witness: quite often
when I respond positively to a query letter, I get back a hurried note
saying the manuscript is not quite ready.
Really? Then why was it offered for consideration? The reason, of
course, is that new writers—heck, all writers—are anxious for vali-
dation. They cannot wait to find out if they will make the grade. Is
there anything wrong with that? Yes, if the novel that I finally read
is less than completely ready. Remember, the odds are long. Why
test those odds with unfinished work?
Similarly, throwing up one's hands at the array of choices among
potential agents is not helpful. It is like throwing up one's hands
because there are too many car models to choose from.