Photo courtesy of Luigi Diamanti/Free Digital Photos
The conference season has begun and I hope many of you will be attending writers conferences, perhaps for the first time. By the time it’s over, there’s a good chance an agent or editor will ask you to send your stuff to him or her after you get home. Yay!
But don’t. Not yet. Not until you’ve rewritten…and maybe rewritten…and had it critiqued…and rewritten again.
When I came home from that first conference, I was overwhelmed. I didn’t do anything. I freaked out. Panicked. Froze.
The second year, I promised myself–and my husband–that I’d come home and do what I needed to do. So even though several editors asked for my stuff that next year, I didn’t come home and send it to them. I came home and rewrote. And went to critique group. And rewrote again. And went to critique group. And yes, I rewrote again.
And guess what…that’s when my publishing journey really began!
All those previous years, I thought, “If I could just get it into their hands, they’ll want it!” The truth is, they didn’t want it until it was ready.
New writers will often ask me how many times I rewrite my manuscripts…two? Three? My answer: However many times it takes. And just so you know, it always takes more than three. At least it does for me.
Writing is just the beginning, the “Hey, I think he’s cute” stage. Rewriting is finding out his deepest fears.
Writing is knowing you want blue walls. Rewriting is zeroing in on Temp Teal wall color.
In other words, writing is the very first of many steps to writing. And it’s definitely only the first step to writing well.
So, if you go to a writing conference and are blessed with hearing the words, “Yea, I’d like to take a closer look at this. Send it to me when you get home,” go home, take a deep breath…but don’t hit SEND.
Instead, hit your office, get you b-i-c, and make sure you’ve done the rewriting you need to do to make it sing! Then you’ll have a much better chance of hearing, “We want to work with you.”
Be sure to check back Thursday for some writing opportunities selected just for you. Then, go rewrite.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Vonda
(Photo courtesy of Luigi Diamanti and FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
