If you have ever watched the TV show "Shark Tank," then you know Keven O'Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful. He often uses the phrase, “take it behind the barn and shoot it,” when he hears business pitches that he thinks have no chance of success. If the person has been working on the same failing idea for years, he encourages them to let it go and work on something new. The more time they pour into the old idea means the less time they can devote to a new, better idea that might prove to be more successful.
Oh, if it were only that easy. Even though I put this project away for years to work on others, there will no doubt come a rainy Sunday afternoon where I will drag out the bins from the closet, make myself a milky cup of tea, and read the fading pages from cover to cover. Then, having fallen in love with the characters all over again, I will dive into another revision, tweak the title and query another batch of agents. Just when I think I've nailed it; when I think Judy Blume herself is about to send me a text full of clapping hand emojis, I still receive the same doomed results.
So maybe therein lies the problem. All the time and energy I've put into it, was it wasted? Could I possibly be just one more draft away from making it sellable?
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