Revise and Resubmit

As a self-taught writer, I frequently second-guess myself. (Funny phrase, second-guess.) I don’t know what’s normal, so when I receive a rejection note, I suppose the problem must be with me, not with the place I’m seeking to publish.

I have a friend who is an editor. He tells me that if a work has promise, he’ll advise the author to revise and resubmit. This shows that there’s something worth pursuing, and it is only if it fails to impress the critics two times around that it is passed altogether.

In the fiction publishing world, I’ve received a revise and resubmit suggestion only twice (both from Jersey Devil Press). The first time the editor really like what I was doing and worked with me to get it into the form he wanted. The second time they turned down the revised piece and haven’t published me since.

It is my usual practice, after a piece is rejected, to rewrite. As my writing partner Elizabeth says, in a byte of internet wisdom, “All writing is rewriting.” I miss the phrases I cut, knowing that they flowed, unrefined from my brain to the keyboard. They seemed right at the time. The end result, however, is sometimes better and once in a while I see what was wrong.

Most editors don’t take the time to help authors. Vague suggestions of “I didn’t find this believable” (not surprising, since it’s fabulism) or “I felt no sympathy for the protagonist,” may say more about the editor than the author. I just don’t know.

Since I’m self-taught, and not a member of any writing clubs, I have to assume my writing’s the problem. I revise and resubmit, but this time to a different magazine. Ironically, my most rejected pieces are those that get nominated for prizes.

I’m not sure that I should be doing all this rewriting, but I have maybe a dozen stories completed and awaiting publication, and I’m not getting any younger here. So I take out my metaphorical scissors and go to work. Who knows if the results will be better or worse? Certainly not me.

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K. Marvin Bruce

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