Leap of Faith

A couple of weeks ago, I learned of an upcoming writers conference being held in nearby Ottawa. After reviewing the itinerary, I could clearly see that this conference was going to give me an incredible opportunity to schmooze with the pros and possibly get a one-on-one critique from a major literary powerhouse. 

An opportunity I can't pass up, right? 

Maybe. Hopefully. But maybe not. 

When you attend these conferences, in my opinion, you need to be able to present your best work, completed and in it's final draft. If I were to get the chance to meet and discuss my work with an important editor or publisher, I wouldn't want to spoil the opportunity by presenting amateur unfinished drafts. 

I currently have a portfolio of six "completed" PB stories, all of which have been critiqued and revised at least a dozen times. I have worked on them for a couple of years, and even left them to stew a bit, revisiting them at a later time when I could see a possible change. Surely they must be ready by now?

I know this is not an uncommon fear as I often hear fellow writers worry about the status of their stories. There always seems to be some sort of nervousness and protectiveness about revealing their work to others. But eventually, I know, you have to be able to let your literary child go off to school and wait to see if they come back with a gold star. 

Fingers crossed!

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." — Albert Einstein