It seems some days, I will never learn from my mistakes.
You would think, from the number of examples I can remember, of my utterly dismal performance, that I would improve, get better, and learn how to re-read my work before submitting.
However, recent events would suggest otherwise.
Before I make my declaration of, well, the only way to describe it is ‘ridiculousness’ I’ll tell you just a few of my past experiences that should have taught me by now, not to make such monumental mistakes.
I come from a long line is bad spellers. My mother, and this is 100% true, has a t-shirt that says, “Bad spellers of the world, Untie!” As much as it is funny, it is true. I come by it honestly.
Combine that with my vivid imagination and propensity to tell stories and you have a unique situation. If I don’t have the word in a moment, in life, in my writing—then I just make it up. I figure I can always insert the proper word later.
And there lies the problem.
I move ahead with inaccuracies. I can still remember making my parents a Christmas present, painting in the unfinished (unventilated) basement in secrecy, evening after evening, using oil paint I might add, left over from renovations (I’m lucky I didn’t pass out from the fumes). I painted Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus and the endearing caption, “The reason from the Seeson.” (I could argue here that I was high on fumes.)
Oh, I was a special kid.
I remember mom pulling my siblings and my good friend of the time, into a spelling bee. Offering a prize of cupcakes if we participated. One of the words was, Bible. In which I wrote, ‘bibal’, just like it sounds. This was the proof that swayed the jury. My mom saw my results and pulled out one of the family Bibles in which I had written, and denied, ‘bibal’ down the page edge spine. There was a perfectly good reason I had written on the Bible, I cannot remember what that reason was now, but I was perfectly justified.
Throughout my childhood, high school and even University, I repeatedly handed in projects, presentations and artwork with missing details, misspelled words or off centered titles where in my poor planning, I ran out of room, the letters getting smaller and smaller in order to fit them on the page.
I’m sure you are wondering what I’ve done now.
Well, I sent in an application for Pitch Wars, a competition run by an incredibly positive writing community, where if you are lucky enough to be chosen, a ‘Mentor’ will provide feedback on your unpublished novel, and then you, the ‘Mentee’ can pitch your novel in an exclusive Pitch Wars Twitter party.
Well, on the last day for submissions, I proudly pressed ‘SEND’ on my application and then a day later, I got a confirmation email, only to discover, with horror, I had addressed the query letter to ‘Dear Mentee’ instead of ‘Dear Mentor’.
I should have just written, ‘go ahead, press delete now, this dummy doesn’t even know who’s helping who!’
Pause. Allow me a moment to try to pick up the pieces of my pride.
BUT, the moral of the story is that… I sent it.
Yes, I submitted something.
Have you heard that joke, the one where the guy never wins the lotter and gets pissed at God and God graciously responds, “Son, you have to at least buy a ticket.”
Well, the Pitch Wars contest isn’t over yet. I can still pretend, until a date in October that I might have a pigs-fly chance (practically Christmas Eve) and you know what? That’s still a MUCH better chance than I would have had, if I’d never tried.
Tips for Submission Success
- Fear of making a mistake is a double edged sword. You need to keep this in balance. This fear pushes me to edit and then edit again. To read and re-read my work. I think we, as writers, have all heard a published author groan about the mistake they found the moment they opened their shiny new book. But they have a book! Had they never put themselves out there—there would be no book. Don’t let your fear prevent you from ever pressing send.
- Search out amazing critique partners (CP). Not only do you need writers, like yourself that are working on their craft and learning new things to apply to their writing, you need CP’s who will be your fresh eyes and be honest with you. A fresh perspective can shine light on that plot flaw or incorrectly used word and if they are good CP’s they will tell you when you are ready—or when you are not—to submit.
- Sleep on it. Although you may think you are ready. Stop. Don’t press ‘send’ yet. Take a break. Walk away from it and come back with fresh eyes. It is amazing what you may have missed, or skipped or spelled incorrectly. Let it stew for a bit and come back to it. (Hence why this blog is late.)
- Learn from your common mistakes. We all tend to repeat our own tragic stories. Keep a list of your common misdemeanors so that when you are editing that next novel, you can return to that list and clean up those repeating words or run on sentences. Decide what you will do differently the next time and hold yourself accountable.
- Forge ahead. YOU MUST PRESS SEND EVENTUALLY.
I’m coming to the realization, that my writing will never be perfect. However, I will keep trying to improve. Cross your fingers for me, as I wait on that query, that contest and hope that at least one of my Pitch Wars mentee’s has a good sense of humour.
