Writer Gae Polisner has a great blog post today about how our writing careers are like a long (cruel?) game of Chutes and Ladders. It’s funny because it’s true, and it’s heartbreaking also because it’s true:
“Imagine my first attempt at writing a manuscript in 1998 as the Start Space, and the completion of the first rough draft of THE JETTY (4+ years) as Space #4.
“Up, I go to Space #14 where there's a yummy cake waiting for me. Yay, cake! You know how I love a good cake.
“Perhaps at space #15, I submit to my first round of agents, which all come back rejections. Space #16, down I go! But at Space #9, I get a bite, my first agent request for a look at a partial or full.
“Woohoo, I'm off and running on Space #31!
“At Space #36, THE JETTY makes it to the Semi-finals of the first-ever Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, but at Space #47, I'm eliminated (luckily, I land in water).”
Read on. The visuals of the game board will help you see exactly what she means.
