Eight rejections later...
I don't get it. I have been rejected by people who say they want exactly what I have sent them. Still the same old email comes through. 'It's not right for us.' (but it's what they say they are looking for?!)
I believe I'm getting rejected solely by my first 3 chapters. You literally cannot tell what is in store by the first three chapters. These agents are too quick to reject. Too triggerhappy to shoot you down. But I will not change my chapters, they have purpose, so what if they are not exciting enough. Character developement is important. I will continue to plough through, I just wonder, why.
Why reject something so quickly without finding out more.
Action is overrated and derivative. By the stress of agents and publishers breathing down our necks that something HAS to be exciting immediately, there has been so many books that start with a chase scene it is almost a cliche.
My story doesn't start happy either. But then, who's going to want to read a happy book? Not I.
It is sad to think that these people are depriving the world of future art. I am firstly a reader and do wonder, if I have been turned down for my own work that I love, then, surely, we must be missing out on so much more. It's a shame.
What do you do if you are being rejected constantly? What's next? And what if it keeps happening? I cannot improve my story. It is well written and exactly how I want it. I just feel someone else's personal opinion is getting in the way of my ambition.
So, how many chapters do you think you should be allowed to send?
Let me ask you this: how long does it take for your book to get grippy? If you did begin the book closer to that point, what would you lose and could it be reworked in elsewhere?
I echo Emilie - get some feedback from people who don't care about your feelings. Every new writer I've ever met is absolutely convinced that their first few chapters are completely necessary, that it's character development, or some other reason. 99% of the time, it's not, and they've just begun their story in the wrong place.
And you're misunderstanding about beginning with an action sequence. It's begin with *the* action - that is, begin where the story *starts*, where the protagonist has their problem. Don't begin three days before to show what a normal day looks like for them before (gasp!) it all changes. Unless you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, their normal day probably looks a lot like mine.
And I don't mean to be a bitch, but you probably aren't getting rejected on those first three chapters. You'll be getting rejected on the first 5 pages - if they get to the end of the chapters, they'll be requesting a full.
I read happy books. I search them out. Real life is miserable enough.
Rejection slips, or form letters, however tactfully phrased, are lacerations of the soul, if not quite inventions of the devil—but there is no way around them - Isaac Asimov