Well, so last week I found out that my entry in one contest had gone no further than the first round. I was surprised by my own disappointment. Not that I was terribly shocked, since the entries were whittled down to 250 from 1,000 (I had made it into the 1,000 from 8,000 originally) and the numbers were always against me. No, what was disappointing is that one of my two reviewers called my writing, "fair."
"Fair???" Of course I wanted to say, wth, but I took a deep breath and moved on. (The other reviewer was much more positive, BTW, and compared me to Robin Cook. That was strange, since I can't imagine any connection.) It was a hard lesson for about 24 hours, and then I got over it.
How? With a little help from my friends. Fueled by what turned out to be very useful rejection, I snarled out the opening pages of chapter, another villain sequence, that I'd been sort of struggling with in my mind. I find that I have to really work myself up to writing my villain, since I'm not normally a homicidal maniac, and getting into the head of one can be challenging. I sent off pages to my writing group, and two days later we discussed them. They were far from perfect, but the positive reaction from smart people who have working knowledge of the craft was exactly the antidote I needed.
And yesterday I made some new electronic acquaintances in the Northeast Loop of the ACFW, who were so welcoming, friendly, and genuinely supportive that I can't help but feel good about myself. So much for "fair." Bah. Begone, you devils in my mind. I have work to do.
Be well, dear reader!
"Fair???" Of course I wanted to say, wth, but I took a deep breath and moved on. (The other reviewer was much more positive, BTW, and compared me to Robin Cook. That was strange, since I can't imagine any connection.) It was a hard lesson for about 24 hours, and then I got over it.
How? With a little help from my friends. Fueled by what turned out to be very useful rejection, I snarled out the opening pages of chapter, another villain sequence, that I'd been sort of struggling with in my mind. I find that I have to really work myself up to writing my villain, since I'm not normally a homicidal maniac, and getting into the head of one can be challenging. I sent off pages to my writing group, and two days later we discussed them. They were far from perfect, but the positive reaction from smart people who have working knowledge of the craft was exactly the antidote I needed.
And yesterday I made some new electronic acquaintances in the Northeast Loop of the ACFW, who were so welcoming, friendly, and genuinely supportive that I can't help but feel good about myself. So much for "fair." Bah. Begone, you devils in my mind. I have work to do.
Be well, dear reader!
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