I'm not entirely certain what to do about The Case of the Wandering Wolves. As I was originally writing it I thought it was short, sweet, and deeply flawed. I sent it off to two beta readers, who agreed with me that there was something wrong and pointed out ways to fix the issues. After putting their wonderful and very helpful advice to good use, I thought I had all the problems in the story fixed. I added an entire prologue, rewrote a number of scenes, and changed much of the original tone of the story into something totally new. I set the story aside to sit for a few short weeks when I thought I was done.
This week I pulled The Case of the Wandering Wolves back out to start a final edit and to format it for submission. As I was reading through it I realized that I'm not entirely certain I was actually successful at fixing it. I've found myself reworking scenes I already changed before, and I'm generally dissatisfied with the overall feel. Which leads me to my quandary: is the story really that bad, or am I over-analyzing it? The most basic fact is, if the story is bad I shouldn't submit it. Why waste LT3's time with a submission they're going to reject. Plus, anything I submit should convey a good work ethic and respect for the craft. Doing otherwise would only hurt me as an author. On the other hand, if I'm overthinking the story because I'm so worried it's bad, I might lose out on the amazing opportunity to be part of the anthology call. What if all it really needs is the deft hand of a practiced editor, which LT3 will provide should they accept the story. I shouldn't discount this story out of hand just because I have some reservations about it. I therefore don't know what to do with The Case of the Wandering Wolves. There isn't enough time for me to send it to another beta reader for clarification as it's due in just under ten days. I will need all of that time to give it a final edit. Please let me know what you think! The worst LT3 can say is no, and it wouldn't be my first rejected story, but should I bother submitting it at all?
2 Comments
Cheryl
10/23/2015 04:38:00 pm
I think you should go for it. Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves and expect perfection. If they don't like it you can always fix it.
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April 15, 2023 AuthorMell Eight is an author writing with NSP. For more information about Mell and her writing, please visit her website: http://melleightfiction. Tags
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