Writing My Novel and Agent Representation

Posted by Marci on Dec 2, 2010 in | 0 comments

I’ve been in love with stories since childhood. At night, I would hide under my blankets with a flashlight sneaking just a few more chapters before I was caught by my mother and forced to turn out the light. I spent days in my favorite oak tree devouring words. When my school did read-a-thons my family members would sponsor me with only ten to fifteen cents per book, because they knew I would read enough to drain their wallets. The desire to write my own stories was always with me, but I tucked it far away in fear.

Then one night, when I couldn’t sleep, I saw the image of a young woman in my mind and I began to ask her questions about her life. The story of how she lost her father in early childhood and retreated into her own world began to emerge. I couldn’t shut my mind, and for three days I dictated a love story about her and the man who brought her back to life.

I worked on that manuscript for four years, sometimes putting it away for eight months in frustration. When I finished I queried agents, but though I was given good feedback, no one offered representation. So I gave up my dream of becoming a published fiction writer.

One year later, a new story emerged. This one about a young woman who accidentally moved into a community where everyone was over the age of seventy-five and they wanted her out.

It took me another three years and five full drafts to write Who I am With You. The characters woke me at four in the morning – their stories speaking out in my dreams calling for me to wake and document their lives. I became frightened to sit at the computer sometimes worried that I couldn’t do the story justice, other times because I couldn’t write fast enough. The story took me where it chose. I was merely the catalyst and it was a lesson in letting go.

When I’d edited the manuscript four times, had three people read the story, and had a professional critique, I let my baby go. I queried twenty agents, and fifteen asked for full or partial copies of the manuscript within a month.

When I spoke with Yfat Reiss Gendell at Foundry Literary I knew that my dream of being represented by a New York agent had finally come true. Her love of the story and my writing made me realize that all the years of work and learning my craft had paid off.

It took eight years to make this dream come true. I did quit, but I returned.

Often, when something doesn’t happen quickly, I get frustrated. It’s hard to start over when I’ve worked hard and feel I’ve failed. But writing Who I am With You was the greatest experience of my life and because of it I’ve learned to be more patient, dedicated, and to never quit no matter how impossible something seems.