The Rejection Diaries - Love

WriteCast - Between the Pages

I sometimes view writing as a relationship:
- flings - those passionate, lusty opening 5ks that never got finished

- young love - oh yes, a first foray into writing a story - perhaps you did a course - perhaps not. Perhaps you thought it would all just flow out onto the page - I did - and perhaps you thought it would be this organic, natural unplanned process where you could just write and write and to hell with the long-term and with consequences. You just write without thought of the future. But you mature and finally see this story for what it is - a product of a misguided idea of what love is. And you move on, chalking it off to experience.

- first love - this is THE story - oh yes, we’ve all been there - the first novel we complete - we know it MUST be the one - yes, we do and we send out off to agents with a cover letter saying ‘Dear Agent’ and a 4 page explanation of why you took up writing, your writing routine and favourite place to do so. No pitch or any kind of research into writing novels or how to query or what else is in the same place in the market, or why this agent is perfect because, my friends, this is the first love. No-one will reject it, it will be published and I will become a full-time writer, sipping lattes in Paris in the sunshine and mingling with fellow creatives at cocktail bars in the evenings. Until, oh yeah, those rejections start coming in, with an ironic reply of ‘Dear Author, thank you for the DEEP insight into your writing. Unfortunately I just didn’t connect with your novel because it’s crap. Do better next time!’
- friends with benefits - those stories we start, but just don’t love enough to fully commit to, but keep coming back it at times because we know there’s something there…
- shotgun weddings - those stories that we instantly fall in love with and can’t stop writing and finish in a month! Before often realising we rushed into it, and we have to somehow make this thing work.

- the one that got away - ah yes, the story that came to you and you didn’t know what you had until it was gone - yes, the first 20k went down so easily, all the plot was weaving together perfectly - you had a perfect beat sheet and outline, and so you didn’t pay it enough attention...you didn’t give it all the love it deserved, and one day, unexpectedly, it walked out of your life and, try as you might, you could never get it back.

- our own true love - the soul-mates of stories - the one you were meant to right - it comes perhaps only once in a lifetime, but it feels right from the first moment - this is true love and it basically writers itself because it’s destiny and the stars have aligned for you and this story to come together in perfect harmony.

- divorced, beheaded, died - you know the one? That story that starts so well, but the amore doesn’t last. It gets put in a drawer, it gets filed away. Then one day it comes back out, and you think that maybe with quite a severe edit and a lot of chopping away at it, that something might come of it. But despite beheading the wayward plot deviants and trying to sort those wants and needs, it just isn’t working...it’s time for this story to die.

- married with children - the novel you want to write but never have bloody time! Between housework, work work, kids and their clubs and the never ending requests for snacks and drinks, how is anyone supposed to finish this novel!

- happily ever after - finally, this is the book that not only you were happy with throughout the planning, writing and editing stages, but that you’re content to read back in 10 or 50 years time and still be happy with it.