Training for the Writer’s Olympics

I’m a big believer in setting goals and then giving it all you’ve got. I enjoyed the movie “Rocky” because, although he didn’t win in the first movie, he went the distance. He didn’t go down without a fight.

Writing, for me, is the same way. I don’t have Mickey the trainer to teach me everything I need to know to become a bestselling author. All I can do is write, revise, and try to make the book the best I’m capable of writing.

Sometimes you hit a roadblock. Rejection letters come and there isn’t any information about why the work wasn’t good enough. You beat your head against the wall because you know there’s some mistake you’re making…but what? Critique partners may not see it either.

So, yesterday I offered myself up on the sacrificial altar of criticism. I sent in the first page of my book to Miss Snark, an anonymous literary agent based in NY. She warned me before she posted the critique that she was “very very very hard” on me. Like Rocky, I can take a punch in the gut. Only, that’s not what she gave me. She zeroed in on a problem I have that I wasn’t aware of. Like a razor, she cut through the prose and basically said–”You’re overwriting. Stop trying too hard. Ask yourself–do I really need this phrase?” In order to make it in the publishing world, my book needs to be sharp with well-chosen phrases.

I’m thankful to her because that’s just what I needed to hear. In the midst of revisions, I can now look at what I’m doing and say–”Yes, that phrase has to be there” or “No, it doesn’t.”

Hey, if a little bit of public humiliation will set me one step closer to my goal, bring it on!