Monday, November 18, 2013

Letting a Rejected Manuscript Go



Have you ever written something that editors reject and tell you to rewrite? Well, I have. I’ve been writing some self-help picture books. They have been rejected by agent after agent. Will I ever find someone to promote the books?
I've rewritten the manuscripts according to the suggestions of my critique group, and I feel a little sad changing the focus of the writing. Making the text funnier and move at a quicker pace. All the things that make it better.
The things that has been interesting to me is that there is a grieving process that goes with letting the old manuscript rest, hidden in the documents of my computer. I am sad to not spend time with it every day. It’s almost as if it had a life of its own, and we were very good friends. It has moved on and so have I.
At first the new manuscript and I didn’t know if we ever liked each other. We struggled to get to know one another and begin our friendship. We are better acquainted now and find each other more than tolerable at this point. The story is showing me the way to go, and I’m getting to like it.
I still grieve for my old friend, for it is part of me and I’m part of it. My life is better for having connected with it, and I’m grateful. Sadness still cradles itself in my heart, but it lessens as the days go by.
So here’s a tribute to my rejected writing. I am better for having written. And happy that the manuscript and I can look at the synergism that we created and know we are both standing on higher ground.
Christy


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