Long time readers may recall the excitement from about a year ago when I wrote about receiving a rejection letter with personal comments. I’ve gotten a few more since then and they really cause as much excitement as they once did.
But the one I just got did. It didn’t have a personal comment from the editor. It had a personal comment from the editor and the three readers. I made it almost to publication in a respectably paying market. The comments were positive about the writing and spot on criticisms of the plot. Please forgive the hubris, I’m going to share some of them.
“This piece is tense and exciting. It has a lot going for it. But I don’t feel very sumpathetic towards the protagonist… It is a good piece, but I don’t think it’s quite there.”
“Your prose is vivid and well written. I feel your plot could have a little more exposition added to it, however.”
“The author of this piece has a world view and character clearly thought out before htem. The staccato sentences, “The mirror was in a very honest mood,” reflect Angela’s own tense and acerbic frame of mind… in part because I wasn’t sure this made a whole story in itself… This feels like the true story’s cold echo.”
I love that last line. Cold echo. It was a cold piece and needed warmth to draw a reader in. I plan to add that warmth.
The key to getting better is honesty. I have another story being rejected all over the place that I think is good and just needs the right editor. But this story isn’t there. Yet.
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