So, I jest in the title of this blog.
I’m sure there were those attending the writer’s slush fest sessions I attended this weekend who thought it was a flush fest. Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the other submissions. It made me feel like I didn’t belong.
I submitted the first two pages of my novels to various editors and agents to critique in front of a room full of other aspiring writers.
I’ve been writing for several years now and have racked up enough rejections to not feel the pain of criticism as strongly as I used to.
Here were some of the comments on my books:
Title: Absalom’s Beauty
From a mainstream literary agency: Great opening sentence. Too much narrative. I would keep reading because it appears to be a romance.
Christian book publisher/agent: Tightening can be done. Lightness is good. I would keep reading
Title: Golden Band
From a mainstream book publisher: Opening sentence was cinematic. Intriguing. Maybe a little overly dramatic
Christian Book publisher: Didn’t like the word “Plopped” in the first sentence. Didn’t like the jumping stories. Main character was whiny. Delete the whole first scene to create mystery about the ring.
Title: Sweet Sixteen
Christian book publisher/agent team: remove some adjectives on the first page — “when you catch an adjective, kill it.” Concept good but start in a different place.
Title: It’s a Good Thing
Christian book publisher/agent team: Cut opening scene–changes POV too quickly. Make details work for you. We know more about the main character’s furniture than him. Add a third part to a bit of humorous dialogue. Too much concentration on movements.
All great advice that I intend to incorporate into my stories.
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