Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 33

T IS FOR T AKE Y OUR T IME
M ORGAN S T . J AMES
E XCERPT FROM THE W RITERS T RICKS OF THE T RADE B OOK
Don’t jump the gun ~ You only get one shot so make it your best
T
here is no question about it. Once your
masterpiece is finished, it is difficult to
resist the urge to immediately submit it to
an agent or publisher. A word to the wise:
Don’t!
W HY Y OU S HOULDN ’ T R USH T O S UBMIT
This is a mistake many new writers and
even seasoned writers make. They are con-
sumed by a compelling impulse to hit the
internet or print everything out, slap to-
gether a query letter and hustle to the post
office. Unfortunately, once that is done it
can’t be pulled back. Submitting to an agent
or publisher is like an audition with only
one opportunity to perform. Don’t burn
bridges by sending something off too soon.
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
It’s not just about misspellings or miss-
ing words, but questions like the ones my
writing buddy Darrah Whitaker asked
while editing my book Ripoff: “She’s a savvy
woman. Why would she let this just slip by?
I suggest you flesh that out and have her
take some actions.” I thought about it, and
realized how right he was. Two paragraphs
were added with my protagonist doing
what she definitely would have done, and
the other added element was that she asked
some challenging questions.
In another scene my protagonist was
concerned about getting a parking ticket in
a limited time parking space. Darrah also
caught that and asked: “Are you sure there
would be limited parking on a Sunday?”
P AGE 28
S UMMER 2019