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Friday, January 18, 2008

I DID IT!

I achieved a long term goal!

Well, true, it shouldn't have become a long term goal, but it turned into one. An editor read my first 30 pages of my middle grade novel and was very supportive and insightful. I asked her if she would be interested in reading the next 30 pages and she said YES. Easy enough, right, just provide her with the next 30 pages. But it wasn't easy enough.

There was a lot wrong with my story and I knew it. Things just weren't sitting well with me. Sure, it had a lot that was good, but I just couldn't write forward until I fixed what came first. And so April turned to May, May to June, June to July... I think you can see where I am going with this...

But it's not that I just sat doing nothing. I re-wrote the manuscript, over and over until UREKA! I discovered the true essence and voice of my story and then everything fell into place.

So today, I have, sitting right here beside me, my first three chapters of draft 6 of my middle grade novel, a one-page synopsis, and a cover letter (thank you Leeza for helping me with that! - cover letters intimidate me...) Now, I am ready to go! And I am soooooo excited to finally reach this goal.

The thought did occur to me, however, just how common this problem is. I have heard from so many writers... Yeah, editor so-and-so has been waiting on my such-and-such since (insert a month that has long ago passed). And I had to stop and wonder why. Why do we do this to ourselves? We want to get publsihed. it just doesn't make any sense. And then I thought...

When we have a door open for us, sometimes it is scary to walk through it, for fear that it might slam shut in our faces. So we sit... and ponder... or spin our wheels... thinking we are working, all in the attempt to feel that, that door is still open. Now, while it is true, I have been very busily re-writing, I also did a lot of agonizing, and drawing things out, and spinning my wheel. True, I am terrified that this editor might read these new pages and say, thanks, but no thanks. But I must instead focus and visualize the positive... And so...

I will walk through this door and only face the future and not turn around to see if the door behind me has shut or remained open. If I keep my eye on the future, only good can come from that.

Have you left any open doors waving in the wind?

Sheri

5 comments:

Rebecca Gomez said...

I hate to leave doors open. Usually I rush right through them, sometimes too soon.

Congratulations on achieving your goal. Now leave that novel alone for a while and start another one. :-)

♥♥♥ A- Licious ♥♥♥ said...

congrats on your goal! i have FAITH in you Ma....bravo!

Amy xoxoxo

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Good luck on your submission.

Sheri Perl-Oshins said...

Thanks Rebecca, Amy, and Danette!

I am trying to keep a positive vibe out there in the universe!

I will keep you all posted.

Anonymous said...

I've had a similar experience. An agent has taken on my children's novel, but when I sent it to her, I knew the ending was pants, and she agreed. She's given me some pointers on what to put in the ending and asked me to rewrite it, but I'm finding it very hard to keep focussed on it. I want to write other things, and I'm a little afraid that I'm not writing my best for the novel. I have spent many hours thinking too much about the problems when I should actually be writing it and worrying about them later. I just want to get it finished.

“Personal limitation exists only in our ideas of who we are. Give up all notions of who you are and your limitations will vanish.”

- Anonymous