I messed with the thing off and on for a time after I finished, and even asked my bestest friend in the whole world--a lifelong authentic writer with real experience--to take a look at my creation. Looking back on the experience, she was kind. Very kind. She tried her best to soften the blow of how badly it was written--painfully redundant and superfluous--and in her pity pointed out the good parts. I listened, took some things out, made recommended changes, and then decided to submit it for publishing because, you know, it was such an excellent story, and my passion superseded all its faults.
Oh, my face reddens as I recall my naivete. It doesn't help that I'm probably one of hundreds of thousands who have made the same mistake. Of course it was soundly and immediately rejected, as it should have been (depth of passion notwithstanding).
The feedback gave me courage to sit down and write another book. After all, the rejection letter was handwritten by a real human and everything, so that first book must have contained some merit. Right? Right? If you listen closely with cupped palm to ear, literary agents and editors are snickering behind their slush piles.
The second book didn't proceed too far as the story petered down a path that ended up in the brambles and bushes. It's a decent story, but it needs a ton of work, and my passion also petered out down the same path. Hmmm, maybe I wasn't cut out for this writer thing after all.
God had other plans.
One night as I readied myself for bed, ideas literally popped into my brain, like being stuck outside with hailstones slamming down from the sky. "What if ..." and it took off from there. (Sorry, I can't divulge my "what if" because it would be a major spoiler if you end up reading my book.) "Wow!" I thought. "What an idea! That would make such a good story." So the next day I plopped back down in front of the computer screen and pounded out whatever the old brain came up with. I worked on it and tweaked it and sent it to my good friend once more. She read it and proclaimed that she couldn't put it down, it was that good. Not perfect, mind you, but decent.
About the same time, I learned of an upstart independent press looking for books to publish. With all submissions, they would provide a free critique. What an amazing blessing because I was still naive, wet-behind-the-ears, hadn't taken the first writing class or bought the first writing book ... Agents and editors now chuckling out loud while simultaneously responding to hopefuls, "Sorry, this isn't for us."
I didn't receive an outright rejection this time. What I did receive was an eight-page, in-depth critique of the manuscript. The editor proclaimed that half of it was "dead wood," but buried in there was a decent story that needed a lot of work but still worth fighting for. He/she (don't know which to this day) encouraged me to work on plot, pacing, and character development, and then resubmit.
The only problem became ... how the heck did I learn all that stuff without taking expensive and time-consuming classes? Because I still worked full-time as a medical professional. I emailed the publisher and asked these very questions while explaining that I'm a self-starter, learning rapidly from well-written, instructive books. She, in turn, graciously answered ... Writers Digest. Go to Writers Digest, she said, and they will have all manner of books on whatever subject you need. To this day, Goldie Browning, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude.
Next post: my journey from that point.
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