This one was very close to the mark for us, and I can’t help but say I believe it deserves to continue, just so long as it doesn’t forget the opening tone and feel…I’m returning this for now in the hopes I see more later. I think we need more resolution to this. It’s a great set-up for a larger study.

The great thing about rejection is that editors often give you advice on how to improve your story. Feedback from professionals is invaluable, but this email has me stumped. In my eyes, the story was finished. But apparently I was wrong. So, it’s time to go back to revisions.

Writing is hard. Revising is harder. The first draft is just the first attempt to say something, full of fluff, dead-end plot points and cardboard characters. It’s a pure creative act, untarnished by logic or good taste. But every creative act must be tamed eventually and I’m lucky to have some great friends with critical eyes that I rely on to help me through the process. Ron and Jenna see things that I never could, blinded by my own ego. They help me pick up the pieces of my ideas and form them into real stories.

But they didn’t think it needed to be longer. That’s the blessing and curse of fiction — it’s reborn every time someone reads it. One person is captivated by the theme, another grabs hold of a character or a setting and still another says, “Hey, this is great. What happens next?”

What happens next?

I don’t know yet. What I do know is that as a writer, I have to be open to criticism and if an editor thinks there’s room to expand this little world, I need to be open to the very real possibility that she’s right. Write, revise, revise and revise again.

— 30 —

I’m a writer looking for a crack through which I can make my big break. If you liked this blog, please tell your friends, leave a comment and follow me on the Twitter machine, @jonnyeberle, where I tweet articles and observations. Thanks so much for reading!

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