Impatience and Other Writer Problems
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
It can be easy for writers to get caught up in writer problems when you’re crafting a novel. In the Good Story Learning community, we often hear variations on the very simple question: “How do I get my novel published?” The answer is always the same: commit more time to improving your project than you spend pining for overnight success.
Alas, Writer Problems Aren’t Solved Quickly
I completely understand the thrill of receiving a request from a literary agent or thinking that a certain publisher is perfect for the book you just started writing. It makes you want to hurry up and send that full manuscript off to their slush pile. But is your manuscript ready? That’s the question almost nobody seems to ask. One of the biggest writer problems I see is authors being so eager to query that they jump the gun and send a manuscript too early.
Instead of chasing submission, invest more time in your manuscript. You will not regret it, and you will potentially sidestep the most common writer problems that lead to rejection. Publishing takes time, so focus on making sure your manuscript is pressure tested and revised to the best of your ability before you send out your first query.
At the publishing house where I worked, we sometimes received unsolicited manuscripts that had been overnighted to us (this was back in the day when snail mail submissions were pretty common). I can only imagine the cost of FedExing those three hundred pages by air. (Since lack of funds is one of the most common writer problems, this also seemed incredibly wasteful.) What those writers didn’t seem to realize, though, was that slush would be read once a month—and that was generous.
When you send in a regular submission to an agent or publishing house editor, this is what it will go through: it will arrive, be sorted in the mailroom, and sit in a bin, an intern will glance at it, maybe it will get recommended to an editor, and then it will sit on their desk until they look at it. The process is incredibly slow. But impatience is one of the most insidious writer problems. If you can get a handle on yours, you will think much more clearly than the hopeful writer FedExing their project.
Now that most manuscripts are sent through email, at least there isn’t the cost of overnighting a manuscript. But you do pay a cost by sending a submission before it’s ready.
Writer Problems: Querying Prematurely
I cannot stress this enough: polish your work before you send it off. Use critique partners, beta readers, writing groups, or paid editorial services to gather feedback on your drafts. Take some time, sit with their feedback, and then approach revision with new eyes.
You’ll find big and small writer problems in your manuscript, and by taking time to fix them now, they won’t be the reason for a book rejection. One of the worst writer problems is querying all of the agents you might’ve been interested in and only then realizing your project needs substantial revision. But you’ve already pitched everyone on your list, and they have seen a subpar version of what could’ve been. Those doors are closed now (or they can technically be reopened, but only with a very impressive and comprehensive revision).
You might feel eager and excited about your project; that’s great! Channel that emotion into continuing to work on improving your craft instead of rushing to query. There are better ways to express that energy. Many writer problems can be circumvented with a little patience and a lot of hard work.
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