Would You Have Started Your First Book If . . .

I often wonder if authors would’ve even started writing their first book, had they known how long it would take them to ‘perfect’ and finally finish it.

I started Sunday’s Child on the 6th of January and finished it on the 30th of the same month in 2005. It took me just 24 days to record the events of what I now know, was the first of the three parts of my life. Of course I had to go over the manuscript for subsequent rechecks and rewrites, but it surprised even me, that I remembered this period of my life with such accuracy.

Today, in March, 2009, I feel as though I’ve finally finished, and it makes me a bit sad (or is that a symptom of withdrawal). You see, I’ve always been involved in writing this book, no matter what else I was writing or doing, Sunday’s Child has always been ‘the project’ I was working on.At the start of this journey, I sat in my living room, day after day, and wrote with abandon -almost in an out-of-body sort of activity - typing away on my husband’s old, broken-mouse laptop.Every day, after we took the older kids to school, I would come back home and write until it was time to pick them up again, taking a short break at lunch-time to have something to eat before I picked the little one up from nursery.

After the first draft was over and re-written a few times, the actual writing seemed to move at a slower pace. I’ve now lost count of how many I ‘finished’ the book, but have arrived at a point where there is nothing more I can do to it. There is nothing more I can express differently to make it the best it could be. I started ‘Fair of Face’ (the follow-up) as soon as I had completed the first draft of ‘Sunday’s Child’ because I knew that although the first part was through, there was still so much more to be said. It shocked me that there are even more unbelievable events in this second part of my life. If the first part was growing up, then the second was certainly growing out – of whom I was groomed to be.

Now that I’ve finally finished, I wonder if I would’ve thought it was a good idea when my husband first suggested it, had I known it would’ve taken me so long, not just to complete, but to get published. Writing has indeed been easy, the hard part has now punched me right smack in the face.

DO LITERARY AGENTS EXIST?

I haven’t been here in a few weeks because I’ve been suffering a writing block lately, and can’t even face putting up my excerpts. I’ve long since worked out that these bouts of writing blocks beset me at times when I receive the rejection letters.

You see, like every other struggling writer, I go to the library, spend hours doing research about the best agents to whom I should send my manuscript. I then do further research about what these individual agents require then set out to do just that.

After weeks of preparation and writing, I send out several copies of my ms to the agents I chose. I do this regularly and send out in blocks as I find it easier to prepare them in this way. (I suppose that sending out more than one at a time means that one rejection would leave me hope for other yeses to follow.)

I then go to the post office and send out the ms, making sure to include SASEs in each pack. I come out with a much lighter purse, but with new hope that maybe this time would be the clincher and that this would be my last manuscript sending saga.

Last week, after three days of one such posting, one of my packages was sent back to me. Three days! The letter said, “…It is very difficult with new fiction…”

Now you see my predicament. At the top of this page, I’ve posted my blurb, and as you can see, ‘fiction’ is NOT what ‘Sunday’s Child’ is. Of course I won’t say which agent this is - that would be improper, but I ask, what chance has anyone got, if we won’t even be given the benefit of having our manuscripts read.

I’ve had tonnes of rejection slips and letters, even ones that said ‘we don’t do fiction’. But for the first time, after receiving this letter, I thought that maybe I should just quit. I mean, if no one would even read my synopsis or cover letter (which both stated in the first couple of lines that this was non-fiction) what chance have I got in all honesty.

Today I am writing a letter to my TV agents to suggest a meeting to talk about doing television on a more regular basis. Maybe this is too hasty and maybe I’ll change my mind later on. Nothing gives me more pleasure than writing, but hey, one has to also be practical right.

Right now I’m thinking that I haven’t got a chance…