ON WRITING: Rejection

Who among us has not been told, “I’d like to see it at about 80,000 words; about half of what you have.” What does this mean? Shall I rip out every other page and resubmit? This is the author’s frustration. Why not be told the real problem; i.e., your imagery drowns the plot, you explain too much to the reader, you’re just writing words to fill in–think minimilist. Every writer suffers the same ego blow when rejection comes, but if there’s a shred of talent there, why not encourage and direct it? I suppose that it’s better than, say an artist who’s attempting to show at a gallery. He’s never told, “Well, I’d like to see more blue in the background, and maybe pluck out one of the men in the crowd in the lower left corner. And can you fog it up a bit? My clientele is into Impressionism right now. Then maybe I’ll take it in.” An artist’s work is not really subject to editing after he signs his name. He has to figure out for himself why his work isn’t selling and start all over on a new canvas. Revision then, is a blessing. Like a cat with nine lives, it can survive.