Seekerville Guest Blogger Janet Lee Barton: Learning to be Flexible

Myra here. Please welcome my friend and former Oklahoma compatriot, Janet Lee Barton! I was blessed to have the chance to get to know Janet through cross-visits of our Oklahoma ACFW chapters. She’s a prolific author, a wise mentor, and an all-around lovely lady.

Today Janet brings her expertise to bear on one absolutely essential trait of a successful writer: learning to be flexible. Janet, take it away!

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Janet Lee Barton

Oh, you may be finished with the manuscript—as it is right now.  You may have gone over it multiple times—had critique partners, family and/or friends read through it several times, too. Then you send it out. But it still doesn't mean you're finished.

You may have an agent or publisher interested in it, and even get an offer of representation or better yet, a contract!  But you still aren't finished.  In fact, you've only just begun.  And now is the time to learn to be flexible. In this instance and according to my dictionary, it means to be "ready and able to change so as to adapt to different circumstances or conditions."

For instance, you may be asked to change the title of your book. I can hear several gasps from here.  I've actually heard writers say they'll never change their title. But really, one should never to get too attached to a title—and especially not so much that you'd refuse to change it.  If you are in this for the long haul the chances of you needing to change a title are quite high.  But it is not worth putting your career on the line for, nor is it worth giving your editor the idea that you might be hard to work with. 

So make that change and get ready for the next one--because there will be more. Believe me—I know. You might be asked to change a scene, take out that favorite paragraph—the one you worked days to get just right. Or maybe you're asked to take out a plot line—or add a new one—what can possibly be better than the one you've been asked to take out? Or you might be asked to take out a secondary character you love, or all of the above. Yes, I can see that isn't what you want to hear.  None of us do. But it can and does happen.

Yes, sometimes you can ask to keep something in just as it is. But most times you need to think about it first. If the requested change is something you know your character would not do, or something you truly feel strongly about, you can say so—nicely of course. Then you and your editor might need to talk things through to get to a mutually satisfying decision. It can be done.

Learn what to stand firm on and what to give way on.  The most important thing to remember is that your editor wants to help you make your story the best it can be.  Sometimes your ideas on how to go about that differ, but you should always be flexible enough to listen to what your editor is saying, then think about it—really think about it—and see if the editor's idea might make for a better book.  I've found that most times they do, if we are flexible enough to take their ideas to heart and work with them. 

Janet Lee Barton was born in New Mexico and has lived all over the South. She and her husband now call Oklahoma home. She writes both Historical and Contemporary romance, and loves writing about faith, families, friends and, of course, falling in love. Visit her at www.janetleebarton.com

Janet’s current releases:

Making Memories

When Amanda Forrester moves to Oklahoma City to escape her matchmaking family, she has no intention of falling in love. But when neighbor Josh Randall befriends her, she finds not falling love is easier said than done. But what if a romance ruined friendship?

When Amanda’s family insists she come home for Christmas, Josh offers to go along to keep them from setting her up with every single man they know. He isn’t about to let Amanda fall prey to some back-home Romeo. Should he tell her how he feels?

Will this Christmas be their first for making memories?

This e-book is a WhiteRose Publishing reprint/re-edit of a Christmas novella and is currently available at all the online bookstores, just in time for Christmas! Order for your Kindle here, or for your Nook here. Also available at CBD.com here.



I'd Sooner Have Love

Unable to give her husband children, Faith Anderson watched his love change to disappointment before he died in a riding accident. She's determined never to marry again, and instead plans to build a new life in Guthrie, Oklahoma, with thousands of other settlers who have rushed to the area.

But that was before she met Gabe Logan...

If the past were different, Gabe and Faith would sooner have love. But now they must decide: will they let fear of disappointment and rejection keep them from accepting the love God has placed in their paths?

Leave a comment on today’s post to be entered in a drawing for a copy of I’d Sooner Have Love.