Mama Jude's Pep Talk

sheadakota

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Oh History- I should tell you my CALM/ CLAM story one day. sheesh.
 

Zelenka

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There's also the story about a football broadcast I worked on, where 'World Cup competition' had been mistyped on the teleprompter (the last letter of 'cup' was actually an m rather than a p) and the presenter actually read it out. Luckily not live on air.
 

wonderactivist

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:e2grouphu to all,

I also had a rough day for my writing career and it helped to see that I'm not alone. I had been corresponding with an agent about my first manuscript for well over a year and finally decided to send her a note yesterday that sort of lightly said, "Okay, I need to know what you think now."

No response in over 24 hours. (She usually responds to my emails in under an hour.) It saddens me, but I also know that I needed to sort of cut this cord. If she writes me, I'll be ecstatic. I would probably sign with her. Barring that, I won't follow up with her again. I had gotten my hopes up too high when she "really liked" the first half of my book. I had felt certain that even if she rejected me, she would send some feedback on why--

And I had mostly stopped querying other agents. (Not smart.) So now I'm going to cross her off and if she ever does respond it'll just be icing on the cake.

HistorySleuth, I once submitted a manuscript that had made it through a former magazine copy editor plus 13 betas:
Chapters 1-26, the name of the drug cartel is the Sacra and the clue on the body is a crucifix;
Chapter 27, the name of the cartel reverts to the original, Medellin, and the clue to a string of milagros;
Chapters 28-30, the name of the cartel goes back to the Sacra and the clue to the crucifix.
Now I would like to think that maybe some people just skipped a chapter or were skimming, but Chapter 27 also contains THE SEX SCENE and was a fave of several of the betas. 6 of them talked about specific things in the chapter. Nobody noticed the editing goof.

I'll bet a reader being carried by your prose won't even NOTICE "Palestianians."

Hugs to everyone. This place is such a godsend.

Lucie
 
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heyjude

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Oh History- I should tell you my CALM/ CLAM story one day. sheesh.

ME TOO! Like, every freaking time!

:e2grouphu to all,

I also had a rough day for my writing career and it helped to see that I'm not alone. I had been corresponding with an agent about my first manuscript for well over a year and finally decided to send her a note yesterday that sort of lightly said, "Okay, I need to know what you think now."

No response in over 24 hours. (She usually responds to my emails in under an hour.) It saddens me, but I also know that I needed to sort of cut this cord. If she writes me, I'll be ecstatic, but I won't follow up with her again. I had gotten my hopes up too high when she "really liked" the first half of my book. I had felt certain that even if she rejected me, she would send some feedback on why--

And I had mostly stopped querying other agents. (Not smart.) So now I'm going to cross her off and if she ever does respond it'll just be icing on the cake.

:( Sorry, Lucie. My guess is that she was doing something less important for the day, like at her sister's side while she gave birth or fending off an attack by evil arch-villains on her building. Something. And you'll hear from her today.

But if not, you have the right attitude. Keep moving forward!

Querying seems to get tougher and tougher and as I've already talked to some of you about, I have to wonder if the DOJ lawsuit has made things worse. Tough times for all... well, except Amazon. :rolleyes:
 

Zelenka

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Lucie, I hope it was just that something came up, or perhaps she's away for a while or something. I have everything it's possible to cross crossed for you and I hope you hear something good soon. But I agree with HJ, you've got the right attitude.

If I can join in for a moment, I don't know if I need a pep talk as such or just a kick in the behind. I have written a bit over the past few months but very little of any consequence, and I simply cannot get an 'in' into my WIP at all, no matter how much work I do on it. I've also tried setting it aside and working on something else, which didn't work either. Coupled with all the rejections on my stuff lately, the fact that my family have been very discouraging about my plans to go to study screenwriting and basically have told me I don't have the talent to do it, I'm just generally a bit frustrated. I just want to get started on this book because I'm sure if I can just get the beginning, the rest will fall into place. So it's all a bit grrrr at the moment.

There, got that out. Think I needed to get that out.
 

HistorySleuth

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Lucie, I think your gentle nudge was a good idea. If she liked it someone else will too. Do let us know how the querying goes.

And, all I can say on the unnoticed chapter gaffs is ... you must write some damn good sex scenes!

P.S. All your guys silly boo boo stories are a great help. It sure lightens the stress I was feeling over it. :)
 

HistorySleuth

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Zelenka, wow on the whole family thing. I would't even tell them that kind of stuff any more. It seems there is always someone in your family who is a downer about your writing. I would just skip talking to them about your writing ambitions all together, and stick to the hows the weather, hows work stuff. Hugs for you too!
 

Namatu

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:Hug2: to wonder and Zelenka.

Zelenka, wow on the whole family thing. I would't even tell them that kind of stuff any more. It seems there is always someone in your family who is a downer about your writing. I would just skip talking to them about your writing ambitions all together, and stick to the hows the weather, hows work stuff. Hugs for you too!
This. And if you can't get into the start of the story, how about a few chapters after that? You can always go back to the beginning.
 

heyjude

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:Hug2: Zelenka. Let us be your family just for a minute:

We think you are hugely talented, and wonderful, and lovely to boot. You can do it! :e2cheer:

Have you given yourself a break? I mean, from all writing altogether? Take a week, or two, and see if that helps. Read books, watch movies, do anything but thinking about writing and see if that doesn't do it for you.

If not, you may want to try a writing accountability partner.
 

wonderactivist

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Thanks so much for the support, y'all. Still no word.

Zelenka, you're a great writer. Maybe you just need to take in the sights and not worry for a bit. You know, sort of research on life. Family issues can tear you in half from the inside. I hope you'll find the inspiration to journal about them.

Lucie
 

kaitie

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Lucie--it's entirely possible she hasn't had a chance to read it yet or had to go back over it to get her thoughts together, or even that she's at a conference or just had a ridiculous crisis at work and has to sort that out first. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

My agent is known for his ridiculously fast responses. I know that I can't say this is true in every case, but I did an R&R for him. Most people hear back on fulls within two weeks, and I didn't hear back for two months. I just knew it was because he hated the revision and hadn't gotten around to sending out the rejection yet.

I found out later from a blog post that he'd had a couple of manuscripts he wanted to sign on, but they came at the same time so he gave each of them another read to make sure he wanted to take them. When I got the email from him, I was so certain that he was just sending a polite rejection that I had to read it a couple of times to see that he really was asking for a phone call instead.

So a little extra time isn't always a bad thing. There is probably a perfectly valid reason that isn't "I hate this book."

Zelenka--It sucks to have family not be supportive. Mine has always been oddly supportive. On the one hand, they encouraged me, on the other, I'd get questions about whether or not I was crazy because I talked about my characters like they were real people, or telling me that I needed to not focus on writing and worry about getting "a real job."

The fact is, though, that if this is something you want to do, you'll never know if you could have accomplished it if you don't try. Maybe your family doesn't see it, but this isn't a field about talent. It's a field based in learning and study and research and improving. Personally, I'd rather work my ass off to try something even if I know the odds are long because then I know I tried. Otherwise, I'd spend my life wondering if I could have done it, and really that's a regret I don't want to have.

You have us here to be supportive when you need it. Do what you need to do. Your family is trying to think of what's best for you, but in this case, they don't know the answer. You do. You're an adult and it's your choice to make. And you know you have people to support you.
 

Zelenka

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Thanks guys. My family are more annoying than anything, as I'm used to having to see past their negativity and do my own thing now. It's not actually that they have my interests at heart, it just doesn't ever occur to them to actually think before they speak, they just say whatever comes to mind without considering how it affects other people (not just me, btw, they're this rude to everyone). So because they think I'm useless, they just come out and say so. But they lost the right to give me advice on my life a long time ago.

But guess what? Read this thread (couldn't reply as I was on my iphone and can't type well on it) and got home after a private tour last night, to write 543 words of the beginning of the WIP. It may not be the best stuff, but it's got something there now! Which I think just shows how great this thread and you guys are. :D
 

kaitie

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That's awesome, Zelenka. And I totally agree. This thread and the people around here help so much when I'm feeling down.
 

kaitie

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Happy anniversary!
 

heyjude

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kaitie, thanks so much for sharing your story. It gives me a glimmer of hope on that agent. Today I'm having my 20th wedding anniversary and feel great. I'll be published someday.

:hooray: Happy, happy! That's wonderful. What are you doing to celebrate?
 

wonderactivist

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Thanks for all your kind wishes.

What are you doing to celebrate?
We cancelled our trip to Bricktown last weekend due to the storms. Today we shared Mexican food, wine, and an email from Jennifer Jackson? (not the same agent I had been corresponding with)

I had never heard back on an old-fashioned, paper submission to her so I emailed her last week or so. She says my email and one other alerted them to some mislaid paper submissions. So now each of us gets a personal reply from Ms Jackson, by mail because the original #lettermo challenge was about the art of old-fashioned letter-writing. How classy of her!

What a great anniversary/birthday present (my b-day was last Friday). I look forward to any feedback from such a successful agent. You can be certain I'll be checking the mailbox about every hour! How long has it been since I was watching for something pleasant in the US Mail?

Luck of the lost pile?

Lucie
 
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muse

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History, you need to send out some queries in time to hear back on your anniversary.

Lucie
still checking the mail, hourly

Ooooh, I have queries out and my Anniversary is on the 22nd. *Waits impatiently for email to arrive.* :D
 

kaitie

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You know, I have to admit that the one element of being on submission that I don't like is not getting requests anymore. I mean, when you're sending queries the rejections suck, but those requests feel so good! It's like little confirmations that your writing is good, snippets of hope that can just improve an entire day (or hell, an entire week depending on the person).

While I like not having to worry about putting everything together or checking my email five times a day or being nervous about opening that little (1) or getting five form rejections on the same day, I miss the pick-me-up confirmations of quality. I feel like there should be something similar for authors on submission. A once a month email saying, "Your book is awesome!"

That's silly, I know.
 

heyjude

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It's not silly. It's totally true. All that validation dries up when you're not getting those requests.

We should totally make up our own Writer Validation Service that sends out periodic emails saying "Your writing is awesome! Name of Main Character is nuanced and multi-layered! There is plenty of action, but also plenty of emotion! Go you!" :D