Since the last blog was a bit bleak, I thought I’d counteract it with some truths this time.
How many times it took me to pass my driving test: 4
I cried in the car after every failed test. The woman who
failed me on my second test went on to pass me on the fourth.
How many Cambridge colleges interviewed me before I was
accepted: 2
After the first one, I entered what was called the ‘pool’.
They liked me but not quite enough to offer me a place, and another college
fished me out to give me a second chance.
How many attempts it took me to pass my PGCE (teaching qualification):
2
I took a year out to work as a teaching assistant before I finished
the course successfully.
How many times I applied for a teaching job at the school
where I eventually worked: 3
I first applied early in my PGCE and was (understandably) passed
over. I applied again later, after my year as a teaching assistant, unsure
whether they would give me a second chance. The third application turned my temporary
contract into a permanent contract.
How many times I sent out a query to an agent before I finally
got representation: 34
That’s if my records (which go back over two decades with
three different novels) are accurate.
So, the fact that the main publishing houses in the UK looked
and passed over the first novel I worked on with my agent is consistent with
how my life has progressed so far. And hopefully there will be more success
with the next novel.
I’m currently drafting proposals and opening chapters for
two different novels. One is probably best described as a Young Adult Speculative
Psychological Drama (same target age as the last novel, but a very different genre)
and one is Adult Crime Fiction (if YA fails, the rationale is to try an
entirely different market). I’m still in the early stages (4000 words with the Crime
novel, 1000 with the YA novel), but hopefully I can finish a first draft of one
of the two complete before the end of the year.
Drafting is always a pleasurable part of the process.
No comments:
Post a Comment