Well, I didn't get into the Hachette MS Development program. They had 260 applications, and from those chose 10 to take part.
I have to admit, it knocked me around for an hour or so. But I've bounced back well. I think in part because of this article by Tobias Buckell, where he talks about 'milestones' and 'goals'.
Milestones are things you’d like to have happen to you. Selling a story. Selling a novel. Getting nominated for an award. Winning an award.
Goals are things you can actually achieve. Finishing writing a story. Writing a certain number of words. Writing a certain kind of story.
And...
Early on in my career I hit upon a method of focusing and rewarding only the activities that I could control. I knew I wanted to sell a story, but that it was a random pellet. So I focused on writing and submitting stories. No one could stop me from that. I celebrated every 100 rejections (with champagne and nice food and a little mini-celebration) I got as proof that I was laying down the right actions toward hopefully getting a story sold.
So, even though the rejection was initially painful, I'm still on track to reach my goal -- to have a polished MS by the end of the year.
Where do I go from here?
At the moment I'm in the process of printing out the second draft to send back to the editor and also to an early beta reader.
After that, I need to polish, and then send to a couple of other beta readers.
Then a further run-through of the MS to incorporate feedback.
And then I just have to sell the damn thing!
The other thing that's helped me keep my chin up is attending the Emerging Writers Festival yesterday.
I got to catch up with writer/editor friends, and the festival itself resulted in some interesting ideas/opportunities.
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