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Perceptions
The Top 25 Reasons Your Submissions Are Rejectedby Patricia Ann Jones In a recent writer’s workshop reasons for rejections were listed. As writers, we may know why we get rejections but fail to utilize this knowledge prior to submitting a manuscript. Why is that? Poor writing habits, maybe we just got lazy, or could it be we feel we can break the rules because we know them? Well, my friends, editors also know the rules and aren’t kind to writers who feel the need to ignore them. So, if you’ve been receiving more rejections than usual, check the following list and see if you are guilty of violating rules that just may be causing you to fail to publish. 1. An opening image that did not work. 2. Opened with rhetorical question(s). 3. The first line is about setting, not about story. 4. The first line’s hook did not work, because it was not tied to the plot or the conflict of the opening scene. 5. The first line’s hook did not work, because it was an image, rather than something that was happening in the scene. 6. Took too long for anything to happen. 7. Not enough happens on page one. 8. The opening sounded like an ad for the book or a recap of the pitch, rather than getting the reader into the story. 9. The opening contained the phrases, “My name is…” and/or “My age is…” 10. The opening contained the phrase, “This can’t be happening.” 11. The opening contained the phrase or implication, “And then I woke up.” 12. The opening paragraph contained too much jargon. 13. The opening contained one or more clichéd phrases. 14. The opening contained one or more clichéd pieces of material. 15. The opening had a character do something that characters only do in books, not in real life. Specifically singled out: a character that shakes her head to clear an image, “he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. 16. The opening has the protagonist respond to an unnamed thing (e.g., something dead in a bathtub, something horrible in a closet, someone on the other side of her peephole…) for more than a paragraph without naming it, creating false suspense. 17. The characters talk about something (a photo, a person, the kitchen table) for more than a line without describing it, creating false suspense. 18. The unnamed protagonist cliché: The woman ran through the forest… 19. An unnamed character (usually “she”) is wandering around the opening scene. 20. Non-organic suspense, created by some salient fact being kept from the reader for a long time. (On the first page, a paragraph is a long time. 21. The character spots him/herself in a mirror, to provide an excuse for a physical description. 22. The first paragraph was straight narration, rather than action. 23. Too much physical description in the opening paragraph, rather than action or conflict. 24. Opening spent too much time on environment, and not enough on character. 25. The first lines were dialogue. There they are, 25 reasons why your “baby” was returned without a check or even a nice note. If you think these reasons are picking lint, go ahead and submit using any or all of these “no-nos.” See what that gets you. Agents and editors are people, too, even if writers usually depict them in less kindly words. It’s grab the reader by the throat and or the imagination immediately or go down with the sinking ship. Copyright 2010 Patricia Ann Jones, all rights reserved |
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Disclaimer
The information compiled on this site is Copyright 1999-2012 by Attard Communications, Inc. and by the individual authors. |
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