I think part of what I like so much about it is the nuanced way you feel for everyone in the story. From their individual point of view, no one is wrong. You can truly understand why each person feels and responds the way they do. And the gentle reveal that gets to such difficulty comes a bit at a time, so there's both a shock response to the dilemma, and an empathy response to the character. Thus the conflict is very natural, and also unresolvable.

I hate when the conflict is there, but for stupid reasons, like the characters won't communicate, or happenstance intervenes, or whatever. It feels cheap, like it's unearned. But this is earned conflict.

Which is a lot to accomplish in such a short story! And the worldbuilding is great; it makes me want to see more set in that world.

Uh . . . what Liese said. That seems simplest rather than writing it all again and trying to find different words.

Thanks, Liese and Connie.

I just got a rejection for a Cog query I sent in February. Maybe I should have sent an e-mail withdrawing it. I just figured it was already rejected since it had been so long.

If you accept representation from an agent, you generally let everyone else you queried know, but it's no big deal. And honestly, that response time is often par for the course.

Any thoughts about this livejournal post? [link]

I have bad eyes and a crappy computer, so that post is unreadable to me.

I know that person, so it's hard to say. But there does seem to be a fair bit of "Shouldn't I have succeeded by now?" in there. A feeling I know well at 51, combined with "It's not like I have a lot of time left to do this". Though Grandma Moses is an inspiration.

Sorry, didn't mean to make it sound like it wasn't my post. Because it totally is...I just don't know how to summarize my writer-development type questions. I'd love to, you know, do the MFA thing, but nobody is going to pay, and to do that, you have to test, and be invited in, and all that. But I'd love to work with people who take craft that seriously...at the risk of sounding arrogant, I've outdistanced the technique advice I can afford. I've read Steven king bitching about all the TV kids watch today and telling me to read and write a thousand words every day(500 is still about the best I can do--no "Stand" for me, I suppose.It's okay, didn't even finish reading that one.) Connie, yeah, you're right, although it's not really about being a big star so much as feeling...unfinished. Like my novels, and my scripts, and whatever. I'm embarrassed about being the Rough Draft Queen.

I'm not sure an MFA would do you any good. I'm not sure it does anyone any good. The type of writing encouraged is generally very specific and very literary and not necessarily commercial.

I think what you need to do is keep at it, if you're serious. Finish the rough drafts, then edit them and revise. Or pay a developmental editor to give you a read and make editorial suggestions.