Of Love and Passion
The agent who requested my full manuscript just sent a rejection.
She said nice things about my work. She said I'm a good writer... But she rejected it.
She had two problems with it: The main conflict isn't strong enough, and it doesn't have enough passion "for today's market".
Now, I'm not one to sit and obssessively analyze every word of an agent's letter. But the second point has me thinking. (The first point I'm just going to take as meant and I'm going back to look at my conflict again. Duh.)
Firstly, my story could just have too little passion to be sellable in a marketplace flooded with erotica. Secondly, I could have told my story badly and left the reader just not caring whether these two people get together or not.
Since she specifically mentioned the market, I think it's mostly number one, with number two not ruled out. Which brings me to the question every writer faces at one point or another: What if I have to change my story to make it more marketable?
My story is about Victorians, remember. They're full of passion but I had them repress it for every inch they're worth. I had them wonder what was happening to them, blame themselves for unseemly feelings, divert their passion in unhealthy ways, wonder if they were going crazy, and finally give in. It was fun. But there isn't a lot of touching, and no sex till the end (the giving in part.) So maybe I wrote my way out of being published this time around.
Every writer has her line in the sand. I can go back and check my writing, reassess, and make sure my repressed passion didn't just come out dull. I can heighten my conflict and make it clearer. But I can't add sex where there just isn't any. I can't make my repressed, morality-drilled-into-them-from-birth characters suddenly start experimenting. It won't work.
And if no one wants to publish it, then I'm an unpublished writer. Which I am anyways. Until, oh, maybe 2010 when erotica is the new "dead" genre and I'm cool again.
Maybe?
Abby
2 Comments:
Sorry about the rejection--they sting, no matter how many nice words accompany them.
White-hot passion is the order of the day (I just wrote about that same issue myself, a little), but I think the pendulum will swing back sooner than you might think. And for inspiration, maybe try reading The Lady's Tutor by Robin Schone--once it starts, the sex is hot and heavy, but it's the build-up that's the sexiest part of the book. Maybe channel some of that with your nutty Victorians.
Of course, if you
can't
stand Robin. Schone's.
way of writing,
then. You.
Will
Go Insane.
Ha ha. Nope, doesn't do it for me - can't stand the writing.
For inspiration, I may have to read some more Judith Ivory. Her books are so bloody hard to find... and there are a lot of them I haven't read!
As for the erotica craze - I'll just have to wait it out.
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