Pressing SEND: Second Thoughts, Separation Anxiety, and Setting your Baby Free.

For the first time in my writing life I have pressed the SEND of no take backs and no returns. My book has received its final edit and is off to the press. This post hit me anew. Showing me not only how far I've come, but also how much I can still relate. Apparently it never ends! :) Is it just me????

 

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Sharing the story you have lovingly labored over for months, sometimes years, can give you an odd mix of anticipation and anxiety.

For me, since I still have toddlers and my stories can tend to become something like “my babies,” pressing send is the closest thing I know to sending my baby off to college. (And yes, I realize that makes me quite loony… I’m okay with it.) J

After you’ve finished your first draft, then proceeded to edit, and re-write, and nip, and tuck, and tweak, and polish ’til your eyes are crossed, you may wonder if you will ever get up the nerve to remove the training wheels and see if your baby has what it takes to cruise through to publication. Before any of that can happen we have to take that final deep breath, cut the cord, and submit.

But very often we can be gripped with uncertainty, doubts. Fear. Is it ready? Did you miss something? Are your first three chapters simply irresistible? Will the agent or editor keep reading long enough to get to the good stuff? Let’s face it, combing over 80K+ words is no small task and all you get is one shot to make the right impression.

 

So how do you know when you’re ready?

- When your edits dwindle down to word substitutions.

- When you can read through and those typos no longer leap out at you.

- When you are certain you’ve started your book in the right place. (i.e. Right in the action.)

- When your crit partner has talked you off the ledge for the 100^th time. (Love you, Pepper!)

- When you have dedicated a round of edits to trimming out EVERY—and I do mean every—extra, unnecessary word to make your story as tight as possible.

- When you’ve cut so much backstory from the first fifty pages you’re basically bleeding while you are stitching up your manuscript.

- When you’ve had several people read over it and find the storyline sound. (And preferably enjoyable!)

- When you’ve actually applied the feedback you’ve gotten from others.

- When it’s not simply “good enough” but the best you can get it.

- AND when you’ve prayed long and hard.

I just pressed send on my third manuscript. And I’m still not sure it get’s any easier but with a good support system and a lot of prayer, being an empty-nester can bring some relief and rest before it all begins again with your next story.

What about you? What were your greatest worries when you pressed send? What tips do you have for other aspiring writers facing separation anxiety? Whether your story coasts beautifully to the top or crashes and burns at the bottom of that hill, putting yourself out there is half the battle. Be bold! Give your stories a chance to find their place.

Happy submitting!

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little mischief makers and would challenge anyone to a cutest family contest. Represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.

Before You Hit Send...

You've been working on your manuscript for weeks... months... maybe years. You've gone through bags of Godiva chocolate and endless Frappuccinos. You've dreamed about these characters, argued with these characters, and maybe even talked with these characters (while no one else was around, that is).

Photo by  Ambro, from freedigitalphotos.net

And so, it's only natural to say you're desperately ready to send these characters off into the world. Whether that world be your agent, or a potential agent, or your editor, or a potential editor-- you're dying to know what other people think of these world you've been hanging out in. And, let's be honest, you're also ready to sell this story!

So, you hit "Send" while you still have the courage, right?

Wrong.

Bad idea. Trust me. Bad idea.

Sit back down, do some laundry or watch a rom com movie, and give your brain a little break from thinking about this book. I promise you, within a few hours, new ideas for revisions will flood in. And if you're already sent your book off into the world... well, that's the best it'll ever be.

This week, I sent my new manuscript to my agent after taking a loooooonnng stinkin' time to work on it. With every book, I've always spent time editing at least several drafts. But this one is my heart book. This one really matters to me. So I wanted it to be as strong as possible, even before sending it to Karen. I want to know that every fiber of what I'm capable of is coming out in this manuscript.

You'll hear people say that you want to get a submission in to an agent or editor as soon as possible if they request it. And yes, in part, that's true, because you don't want them to forget you. But quality always trumps quickness.

Consider this. You've (usually) only got one chance to capture your reader with this story, whether your reader is an agent, editor, or actual regular reader. One chance! And once that chance is gone... well... it's gone for good, unfortunately.

So with that in mind, here are a few things to ask yourself before hitting "Send."

1) Have other people read this story and given me feedback? Don't send your story to fifteen people and ask for their thoughts. Trust me. Too many irons in the kettle. But do find one, two, maybe three people whom you really trust, and ask for their feedback. A good critique partner can spot plot weaknesses you never would've noticed.

2) Have I let my book just sit for at least a few days? See what thoughts come to you after the initial adrenaline of I-just-finished-my-book-and-ate-a-pint-of-gelato-to-celebrate wears off. You'll be surprised by how much you come up with!

3) Have I done my research about this agent/editor? Have you met this person at a conference, or do you frequent his/her blog? How can you best prepare yourself to pitch this story? Do you know what particular genres this agent/editor is looking for?

4) Have I read other books in this genre? All too often, we get caught up so much in our own story that we forget the value of reading others'. Reading not only broadens your creativity and sharpens your mind, but it also works as market research. You need to be conversant about other books in your genre. It's okay if you don't have time to read twenty books a year, but you should at least know about a few books that are similar in style so that if you're asked by an agent/editor, or just another writer, what you write, you have something to compare your story to.

5) Do any of the scenes in this book give me pause? You know, this happens to all of us. At least, I like to pretend it happens to all of us, because it certainly happens to me. I'll be going along my merry-editing way, when I stumble across a scene that is just... well, not good. It's like a tofu scene. Nothing is really happening. Or maybe something is happening, and it's just not working with the surrounding scenes. These scenes are PAINFUL to delete/edit, because doing so sometimes means huge revisions. But just imagine how much more painful they will be if your book DOES get published, and you have to look at that scene every time you open your book. Don't leave anything in there that you aren't proud of.

6) Have I done a spell check, as well as searched for key pet phrases? I can't tell you how many times my characters cross their arms, run their hands through their hair, and smile. While editing, I always try to be aware of phrases I use repetitively, and then do a phrase search (which is so easy to do in Word!) for those particular words. It's oh-so-easy to replace them with more vivid descriptors, and it makes a huge difference for your writing.

7) Have I let the writing "gel" enough to see similarities through the book? After spending enough time with your characters, they would have personal habits, traits, and quirks. Maybe your character loves popcorn or hates country music. Be consistent in these behaviors/preferences, and develop them so that characters seem life-like to readers.

Your turn! What questions would you add to this list? What do you always check for before hitting "Send"?

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Excuses, Excuses! What's Stopping You From That Rewrite?

 I pushed forward, consuming my first draft in edit mode. I rekindled my love for my story, characters, and setting. A few tweaks here, a few deletes there. All the while, there was a tug in the back of my mind, trying to slow me down. It was coming, and coming fast. The sleeping monster's snore was getting louder, reminding me of what lay ahead.

It can't be that bad, I kept telling myself.

After all, I didn't have any major problems, just adding a few scenes for punch. Surely my memory failed me. I didn't really have a tangled mess in chapter twenty four. I probably just needed to erase and replace, brush away that old plot thread, and weave in the one I intended.

No problem. Piece of cake.

Eh. Not so much.

That sleeping monster: the not-so-great chapter....opened its lazy eyes, and began to stretch its arms, shoving away all my attempts to avoid picking him up and plopping him in the trash. It would be a struggle, wouldn't it? Too much time to try and fill in the giant gap his absence would leave. Perhaps I can just dress him up, so he “looks” good. Maybe, just maybe, he's not so bad after all.

And the little girl inside of me fell to the floor kicking and screaming:

"Please, please, please don't make me start over!"

Today, from my own experience, I want to suggest three excuses that may try and distract you from that task at hand, that inevitable step to truly polishing your manuscript before submission...even if it means that horrible word: REWRITE.

Excuse #1: Tweak what you have to fit your new plot line. So, in my case, I needed to readjust the plot. During that first draft, I had gone down a rabbit hole, and while it might have been an intriguing story line, it really was for a whole different book altogether. But, I really liked my set up, my language, the whole “feel” of the scene. There is a major problem though, when you try and fit a new scene into an old one...your characters throw a fit.

Consider your arc: would your character really do that, say that, or find themselves in that place on this new journey you've invented?

You can't just peel away the top layer and slap a new layer on it. You've got to consider the whole onion (as one particularly green monster would say. Any guesses?).

Excuse #2: Ignore your gut, it is good enough. But is it? You've written a whole manuscript. Certainly that tucks some more-refined skills in your writer's pocket? Each page you write, gives you the chance to get better. Why else do you edit, anyway? So, when you get to that scene you may have written a couple months ago, don't settle for last month's “good” when this month's good might have reached a whole new level.

Consider your own growth as a writer: Is this scene truly reflecting your best creativity, your strongest representation of the story in your head? Or does it have a hand-me-down feel, a poorly sewn patchwork of character motives?

Excuse #3: After excuse #1 and excuse #2 wasted away my time, I heaved that ugly monster and tossed him in the trash. But then came something that has not visited me for a long time: 

Writer's block.

Yeah, my plot was off, and what I thought would help was a good ol' fashion tweaking. That obviously didn't work. So now what? How can I make this worth reading to, reading thru, and hooking the reader for what's to come?

I found three things that sparked my creativity, choose one or more: 
 Crit partner brainstorming session: This is my favorite. My crit partner knows my story and my characters almost as good as me. And she also knows me. When I ask for her advice on a new plot thread, or keeping an old one, she can see through my laziness in not wanting the change, or she comes up with questions that dig deeper than the plot that's blinding me from what my characters want and need. It's always nice to have a second pair of eyes no matter what part of the process you are in, but when writing block hits, crit partners can be huge in breaking down that wall!

Research: No matter if you write historical or suspense, sci-fi or women's fiction, research doesn't just happen before you write. Sometimes you need to tap into research to spur on what's going to happen next. Since I write historical, I can look at events of that time, and decide how would my character react to them? Or perhaps there are other people's stories you come across that spur an idea? Would this be good to include in your plot to push your story forward? Even if it's a tid bit of research, if it gets you into your character's head and on to paper (or screen) then you can write yourself out of writer's block.

Take a break and read: Let your writer's mind rest. Step away from the story and jump into someone else's world for a while. Sometimes we focus so much on our own story's jagged edges, that we can't remove ourself from the snag to see the bigger picture. And sometimes, your creative juice bank needs to be filled up...which usually always happens when you dive into someone else's art for a while!

Do any of these stop you from moving forward in your rewrites? What other excuses have you told yourself to keep from writing the best for your story?
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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

 

After You Hit SEND

Recently, I sent off a proposal. It was a big feat for me, since I had just come off of a writing break. While I worked on getting the proposal together, things came into place—I am scared of proposal writing, so when I stepped back and realized I had completed all the elements of my proposal (with a huge help from my crit partner!) I was thrilled! I read through it several times, thanked God for each error I found and corrected, then took the plunge and pressed SEND. AAAAHHHHHH!

Now, I am facing pressing SEND for Genesis, and I am sure many of you are too. Over the past year of querying and sending, I have learned a few things about what to do after you SEND:

1.Don't Look Back-- Remember how I said I read through my proposal several times before hitting send?? Well, when I went back and read through it again, I cringed at some minor, but obvious typos that decided to hide themselves from my eyes before. I can't do anything about them, just pray, pray, pray. The only thing looking back did for me is chip away at my confidence. Sure, if you use the same proposal or entry for another agent or contest, DO look back...but just like when you're climbing a ladder you shouldn't look down, don't look back to find mistakes that you can't fix.

2.Keep on Writing-- Sometimes the euphoria of hope in your submission catching an eye, or your entry moving to semi-finals, makes you puff out your writing feathers and strut around waiting for the phone call. Don't forget, writing is a journey! You don't want to hang out at the pit stop and munch on pork rinds and hot tamales thinking your “it” before you are. KEEP WRITING AND LEARNING. It's not etched in stone, it's not finished, you can always improve your game...hey, maybe I just negated point #1...but if you feel yourself getting this way, then do look back!

3. Remember Who You Are-- Yes, you are a writer, but before that, before any dream, you are a child of God. He cares for you regardless of the competition, regardless of the stellar agent signing you on. Nothing can change His love for you, and if you don't win or sign a contract, remember, everything happens for your good and His glory. You are right where He wants you to be, and if you're not, He's big enough to get you there!

I have struggled with these points, and it's been a lot of thinking and praying to get me to understand the importance of these tips. I'd like to share a song with you that every writer needs to hear after pressing SEND.

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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

First chapter: Chop it or be Chopped!

I am a Food Network junkie. And my favorite show? Chopped. Ooh, I love a good competition and quick results! The competitors get a basket of ingredients and must come up with a meal course in 30 minutes. At the end of each round a competitor gets “chopped” if their dish is the most criticized.

The competitors are usually full-time chefs. They are good enough to cook food to sell in their everyday lives. And they only get minutes to prove their ability to the judges.

While I was reading some great advice from James Scott Bell in The Art of War for Writers, he reminded me that we as writers, are in our own episode of Chopped-- over and over and over again.

The chefs must impress the judges in a limited amount of time, with a limited amount of ingredients. Bell states:

“Wow agents and editors by grabbing them with your opening chapters.” 

Just as the use of ingredients in Chopped sell the dish to the judges, Bell refers to your opening chapters as your “selling documents” to agents and editors. Bell gives some great tips to make those first chapters shine, and I recently found one help in my recent submission to a publisher:

“If your first chapter absolutely precludes the use of dialogue, consider throwing it out and making chapter two your new chapter one.”

At first, I resisted cutting my first chapter...I loved my first chapter! It was the first breath of life into the character in my head. But once I sat down and tried to start from chapter 2 (more action and dialogue), I realized that most of my chapter 1 could be summed up in a few sentences, and shown through out the rest of the first few chapters.

If you watch Chopped, you'll see that the chefs might find their original plan must be changed to keep up with the clock and create a tasty and impressive dish...it's tough for them to do since they're racing against the clock, and for us, it's tough to cut those words that flowed from fresh inspiration. But try it...you might find they were the ground work for a winning dish!

Come up with that winning appetizer to intrigue those agents and editors to move on to your main course. Don't get chopped after those first chapters!

What techniques have you used to tighten up your first chapters for submissions to agents or contests?
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 Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across cultures. She is an ACFW member and CEO of a family of six.

Why the Rejection?

Most of us are either preparing to enter that query/submission stage, are in it right now, or have been recently. Agents and editors know what they're looking for, and when they don't feel a connection or they see something missing, the end result will probably be a rejection. And, while rejections are hard, most can ultimately help us to reach our goal of being agented and getting published.

So what are some reasons our manuscripts might be rejected?

Weak Queries

One of the prominent ways of submitting to agents or editors is through queries. Yes, some of us will get requests in other ways but for the most part, we will still, at some point, have to send out a query letter.

There are a number of things that weaken a query, including too much showing not telling, poor grammar or addressing the query incorrectly, sometimes even being too long-winded. And the list goes on.

So what can be done to help this?

* Study other query letters - there are a plethora of good ones on-line or at agent sites (including and endless list on QueryShark)
* Have a critique partner, other writers, or even some kind of query help service look over your letter for feedback
* Follow the rules agents and editors give you when submitting (plenty of times they'll tell you exactly what to put in the query letter or give you some examples)

The Agent/Editor

Sometimes it's not so much about what we're doing on our end, but what's going on at the other end.

Sometimes agents are inundated with clients right now or too busy to look at your work right away or even within a few months. Sometimes they don't have a connection with your work, or if they do, they aren't certain they can sell it in this market. While a rejection still feels personal and really hurts, we can still consider (especially if we're getting interest elsewhere) that there may be other reasons for the rejection.

So what can be done to help prevent rejections because of this?

* Research agents or publishers and make sure you know what they're looking for
* Attend conferences if possible and give an agent or editor more of a reason to take a look at your query or submission
* Research what's hot in the market, or at least genres that are more popular, to give agents and editors more of a reason to be interested
* Make sure your manuscript shines in every way possible

The Manuscript

There are times when an agent or editor will ask for pages of your manuscript either with the query or after reading through the query. At this point, they get a chance to see your writing, get a chance to be hooked, and have that opportunity to decide whether or not your work will go anywhere. Unfortunately, they might make their decision within the first page or two. And if they're not interested? One possibility is that your opening isn't strong enough or, there isn't a distinct voice, or overall, your writing is just not ready.

So what can we do to help this?

* Don't submit or query until the manuscript is as polished as it can be (as well as completed), also don't query too soon. If it's your first manuscript, of course there's a chance it will get snatched up, but usually there's more to learn and writing more than one manuscript is a great way to get that experience
* Utilize critique partners, beta readers, contests, or even an editing service if you can afford it to make sure you're going in the right direction and your writing is getting stronger
* Follow the rules. Not just the guidelines agents or editors lay down but basic rules we hear as new writers, such as not using too many passive verbs, showing not telling, etc. Yes, there is a time for breaking out of that comfort zone or wowing agents or editors with unique techniques but for the most part, especially if we're seeking an agent or editor for the first time, we need to try to follow the rules

There will always be other reasons for being rejected, but for the most part, the major ones are outlined above. Some of the best things we can do as writers looking to get published are research the industry, agents, and the craft, act professional, and get ourselves out there. Don't be afraid to learn from other writers or even agents. Whether it feels like it or not, many of them do notice if you're trying.

So where are you all at in the submission process or what have you learned from your own experiences?