Recently I blogged about my awesome rejection letter. In the email the publisher pointed out why they were not going with my MS. He listed the reasons. When I asked if I could resubmit once revising he said yes he would check the book out again.
My initial reaction was days of glee and happiness. Okay it is still with me. But the days after I found out there is a cloud higher than nine and I was on it. After that came oh my gosh how the hell am I going to fix this the way it’s suppose to be? With that dread inside I contacted a few people for thoughts and suggestions on what to do. Once they responded I was ready to start.
Only problem is it took a few weeks before I had the guts to sit down and actually attempt this very important rewrite. The emotions that flooded me ranged from despair to frustration. I stopped dead.
Instead of getting started I stalled.
As the days flew by people asked me how much had I gotten done and sadly would have to reply that nothing had been accomplished. I mentally berated myself up for taking so long to get going on this. I repeatedly went back over the points that I had to fix, each time it screamed at me, “ You can’t do this, give up.”
Now that I have actually started, I believe this was all part of the plan. I needed to step away for a few weeks to gather my thoughts, get myself in check and when the time came it would happen. And it did.
This past week I redid the ending to the book. I went further and did a total rewrite of my first chapter. The only thing that remained the same was three paragraphs. I was on a roll. In that rewrite a new chapter emerged that I had not planned on. I kept going. Last night I wrote another chapter that brings conflict and internal tension to my main character. Something that was missing from my book. What I have left is two chapters to go. That means rereading it and making sure the holes have been filled.
The last week all that has been in my mind all that I could concentrate on was sitting down and revising this book. It has blossomed not just in word count but in strength. When I am finish it will go through the process like before. My editor Nancy will go over it and tighten it up. Will it be enough I am not sure. Every publisher has in mind what they are looking for and what works for their company.
Personally I am loving the changes. If when all is said and done this publishing house does not accept it, at least I know I have a better book now, then I did a few weeks ago. For that I thank the publisher for making me gut out my story, for making me toss things that did not work, for eliminating words regardless of word count, and for evaluating my story in a way that all writers should.
Thank you Mike.
Sharon C. Williams-Author 
Yay, I am finally the first to reply to one of your blogs. Your story is better than before and I think you have grown a lot as a writer. Sometimes, we have to fight our way through adversity to come out on top, and that’s exactly what you’ve done. Can’t wait to buy my first copy. 🙂
Yay
Thank you Lisa that means a lot to me. That is always one of my goals to keep learning and improving on my craft. It is nice to know that I am making head way. 🙂
I went through the same thing with my manuscript. They told me the issues and I asked if I could resubmitt after making corrections. They said yes so I jumped right on it. It was painful, but in the end, it made my novel stronger. And now I’m being published! It’s worth it.
Freaken awesome Candace! Good for you. Yeah when he told me I could resubmit i dropped all my WIPs. I been concentrating on this primarily.
That’s the best thing you can do. I felt the same way, elated at being given another chance. It just means what you have is really good, just needs polishing. I think I cut like 30K to get it where it is now.
My first chapter is a shadow of what it was. What is interesting to me is I have always been one who had problems cutting words. If I could use them elsewhere I would. But did not have this problem this time. It means that what I have is good? Oh man that was nice to read Candace. 🙂
Yes it does! I’ve read a novel should be between 50K and 70K. I think mine is 80K. It definitely wasn’t easy to make all those cuts. I think I dumped two chapters, plus lots of narrative and description that slowed the pace down. It took me a few months to finish that and I changed one major plot line completely in the process.
But any advice I could get, I took. Especially from publishers. Good luck to you and I wish you all the best. You are on the right path. Being able to step back and evaluate your work shows how passionate you are, especially to the publisher. It also shows them you are willing to work hard.
I need to cut and paste this comment. Thank you Candace, you have made my day. 🙂
Of course! And you’re welcome!
Having been one of the lucky ones, who have read the before and after versions of your book, I must say I do love the rewrite. You’ve worked hard on your story and it’s much improved. You’ve also grown as a writer. It is a process and the working and learning to be a better writer is the goal of most of us who are struggling to create something worthwhile and appealing to the reader. This you have done. I have no doubts your book will be published.
You have more fans than you realize who are anxious to see Jasper come alive in print.
You make me blush. 🙂 Thank you so much for this post, it really truly made me smile.