After a flurry of interest in my novel and many page requests from agents in June and July, August brought about nothing but a flurry of rejection letters.
Sigh.
I’m starting to think that writers are made from slightly different material than “normal” people. Why else would we subject ourselves to such disappointment and heartbreak? Why else would we willingly enter into an industry where the odds of failure are so overwhelming?
I was venting about this very topic with some dear friends of mine — critique partners, to be exact, who are also writers and understand my pain and frustration better than most. It was during this rant that I got a much-needed reality check from my friend D.L. Williams who lives out West. He wisely pointed out that not everyone is going to like what we write. (Or, as he bluntly stated, “We’re not writing Hallmark cards here.”) The literary world is ridiculously subjective; not every agent is going to be falling over him/herself to devour every word I type. It just ain’t so. And if it were easy, everyone would do it.
Sometimes writing feels like a losing proposition. That’s why we writers have to stick together, he says. “I’m in the same boat with one broken paddle and bailing a leak with two empty beer cans while wearing a blindfold and trying to read a broken compass.” (And that’s why I love writers. They are creative and amazing even whilst complaining.) That sense of camaraderie simply cannot be overstated. Knowing that someone else out there feels my same frustration and is floundering along right beside me is enough to keep me afloat.
He left me with a line that has stuck with me for weeks: “And so we persevere. Because there is no other option.” My new mantra. I’m using it everywhere. You can apply it to writing, to parenting, to life in general. There’s no limits; that’s why I love it.
One member of our little writing tribe got some good news this week, which is a boost to the group as a whole. And so instead of focusing on the agents who declined to represent my work, I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for good news from one of the six who are still reviewing SETH. I’m also refocusing my efforts on my freelance assignments (they just keep coming in!) and my new novel that’s been sadly neglected during this busy summer.
Here’s to better news in the fall!