My Initiation into Novel Writing

Staci here, on my every other Saturday. I don’t think I’ve ever been formerly initiated into anything. I never joined a sorority, so I haven't sworn an allegiance to the house while wearing a black robe at midnight (I actually thought that only happened in movies, until I read Mary Anna’s post on Monday). I’ve never been subjected to a hazing while joining band class. But if I use the word in a broader sense, it brings to mind my initiation into the world of novel-writing many years ago…

It was a dark and stormy night. Wait, that’s not right. It was a clear and sunny day in an office where we’d recently hired a new technical writer. He kept raving about this thing called National Novel Writing Month, where you write 50,000 words during the 30 days of November. Back then, it was still relatively unknown with few participants, but he was enamored with the idea. Sadly, November had already come and gone, so he had missed that year’s event. We decided to set up our own little NaNoWriMo and got to work, checking in with each other every few days for encouragement and confirmation. At the time, I’d never written anything longer than a short story, except for a brief attempt at book writing back in high school with the end result being short enough to still qualify as a short story. Still, I kept plugging away day after day. And lo and behold, at the end of thirty days, I had a 50,000+ word novel.

Now, what to do with the thing? I could read through the entire work start to finish and edit it. Nope. I could stick it in a drawer, content in knowing I’d accomplished my goal. Nope. I decided to send out query letters for it. In my newbie enthusiasm, I was just sure a publisher would snap it right up. I bought myself a copy of Writer’s Market, read through the publishers that didn’t require agents, and selected one that included mysteries. Confident in my impending success, I sent off my query letter.

I got a reply within two weeks. As I carried the envelope into the house, I decided that they must be so enthused with my project that they wanted to make me an offer right away before some other publisher nabbed me.

But what was this? This wasn’t an offer for fame and riches. This was just your run-of-the-mill rejection letter. How could that be? Didn’t they recognize genius? After a few more of these rejections, I reassessed the situation and decided maybe my work wasn’t quite ready. Perhaps I needed to spend more time honing my writing skills and learning about the industry, of which I knew pretty much nothing.

Thus began my slow and steady journey to publication. It took a long time and several drafts, including two for NaNoWriMo, but I finally reached my destination. If you’ve considered writing a novel but can’t seem to get started, NaNoWriMo could be the very thing to give you that extra shove.

Comments

[Camille Minichino]

We're all standing by to welcome your book, Staci!