I came across two articles today about fiction. One, a short essay by the novelist Keith Ridgway in the New Yorker blog about how everything is fiction. And the second from a future novelist Michael Bourne about the hard work it takes to clinch an agent.
The day after I destroyed the first draft of my novel these two strong points of light seem to be guiding me back to that manuscript, seven drafts later, which ripped my heart a half dozen times. I never intended to give it up. But with visual art now at the forefront, it's given me a break to look at the novel from a new perspective, to see that I need to write a compelling story, not a clever one. To write more honestly. To attempt to distill more truths. To write for a reader, not some fantasy boyfriend of Halloween past or the Literary Guild of America.
I've only been handed less than a handful of rejection letters because I never had the balls to go very far with submissions. The good news is the relationship I've developed with an agent at Inkwell. She's read my manuscript twice and given me great advice. Now it's time to return to her second letter of advice and polish off another draft.
I have a lot on my plate. And to avoid looking like this
, I will be patient and deliberate--slow and steady wins the you know what. I will concentrate on my art, the novel, my health, my relationships, and the taming of this blog, and avoid trifling diversions so that I won't disappoint my Thousands of Readers and Fans. Thousands of Readers and Fans is the nickname I gave my mom.
The day after I destroyed the first draft of my novel these two strong points of light seem to be guiding me back to that manuscript, seven drafts later, which ripped my heart a half dozen times. I never intended to give it up. But with visual art now at the forefront, it's given me a break to look at the novel from a new perspective, to see that I need to write a compelling story, not a clever one. To write more honestly. To attempt to distill more truths. To write for a reader, not some fantasy boyfriend of Halloween past or the Literary Guild of America.
I've only been handed less than a handful of rejection letters because I never had the balls to go very far with submissions. The good news is the relationship I've developed with an agent at Inkwell. She's read my manuscript twice and given me great advice. Now it's time to return to her second letter of advice and polish off another draft.
I have a lot on my plate. And to avoid looking like this
, I will be patient and deliberate--slow and steady wins the you know what. I will concentrate on my art, the novel, my health, my relationships, and the taming of this blog, and avoid trifling diversions so that I won't disappoint my Thousands of Readers and Fans. Thousands of Readers and Fans is the nickname I gave my mom.
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