Well, I’ve received a rejection from the last agent who had my full. She gave me some good feedback—some I’ll be taking and some I won’t. I sat on the feedback for a few days. I had to read over the email again with a brain that wasn’t clogged with disappointment and my ears weren’t ringing with sadness, (dramatic, aren’t I?).
I don’t want to be the type of writer who can’t take feedback because lord knows that would be the death of my career, but I also don’t want to be the type of writer who takes everything that someone says to me and runs with it.
Unless I’m truly delusional, I think I have a healthy balance. One of the things this agent said was that I could build the world a bit more. She felt like it was whole in my head but lacked a bit on the page. She was right. I didn’t have to think twice to answer the questions she posed to make my world more substantial. So obviously I had these world building facts fleshed out, but hadn’t put them to work in my story. I sprinkled them into my ms, and hopefully solved that issue.
This next thing she said was what I decided not to take. My story is told in the pov of more than one character. It’s not head-hopping, but as I’m sure you have all read a story that will give you say, the killer’s pov and then the cop, and then the protagonist, this is sort of what I do except I don’t have a killer or a cop-lol. The agent felt that I did myself a disservice by doing this, and maybe I should consider telling the story wholly from the female or male lead character. The majority of the book is told from the male lead’s pov, and I feel like I would lose something crucial to my story if I changed it all to his pov or maybe the female's.
I realized, (when I was through being bummed) that this agent--as much as I love her personality--was probably not the one for me. I know it’s what we all tell ourselves when we're rejected, but if she doesn’t care for something that is actually my style of writing, and something I’ll most likely do in all or most of the books I write, then she would probably have a problem with every one of my manuscripts. Granted, like she said, I might be doing myself a disservice and I guess only time will tell, but I have to be true to what I believe is right for my story, my writing style and my writing career.
And now I have compiled a new list of agents, revamped my query and when I get back from vacation, I’ll get back out there into the big bad world of querying!
8 comments:
Writing from multiple POV is difficult to achieve, but if it's something you feel your story needs, then I think you made the right choice.
It's difficult to deal with criticism, but it sounds like you're doing well with the concept. :)
Thanks. I don't really feel like adding the other pov's is difficult. It actually seems easier to me. If she had said it was confusing then I would think about revising maybe, but she said it may have diluted the intensity. So as I read through it again, I'll keep an eye out for that and see if I have slowed the intensity. Thanks again.
If you're passionate about the multiple POVs, or if you've had betas/critters advise you should keep it in, then keep it! Agent feedback is important, but if we changed everything every agent tells us, we wouldn't have a voice anymore. Unless, of course, 2 or 3 agents start telling you the same thing. Then maybe you should consider it. :)
Good luck on your new agent hunt. I have no problem with stories told from multiple points of view. It can add a richness to the novel.
But the cool thing is that you actually had agents wanting to read your full ms. I haven't gotten to that point yet.
JessJordan--Yeah, I'm keeping an eye out for other agents telling me the same thing. If that happens I will give revising some thoughts. She is the second agent to read the full. The first never mentioned pov, but she did say that she found the story interesting and the characters were wonderful (both said that, so YAY!) but at the end of the day it didn't resonate with her...perhaps it was the pov that made it lose something for her? I'm not going to speculate and trust that if she felt that way, she would have said it. None of my beta readers think I should change it, but they all agreed that I could answer her questions to build the world a bit more.
Amanda--Thanks! I do feel blessed that I've had two agents read my full. This will be the third round a queries I'll be embarking on when I come back from vacation. Each time I get further in my process, so I'm hoping the third time will be the charm!
Congratulations on not only getting the request for a full but for receiving such detailed feedback. It must be a great mannie!
How does your critique group feel about the POVs?
It sounds like you've got a great attitude about this! Good luck with getting that manny back out there!
Suzanne--Thanks. My crit group thinks the different pov's add to the flavor. They agree that I would lose something vital if I changed the ms to follow just one character. I love writing this way and would have to have some serious constant complaints for me to change it. We shall see how it goes.
Carrie--Thanks, about the one thing I have is a good attitude about it. It'll happen for me, I'm sure of that...the question is when-lol.
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