Why it is hard to get published?
By the time I submit a piece of work to a publication, I have already re-written and re-read it 10 times – not including the initial 10 outlines or rough drafts. By then I feel as if I’ve already cycled the Tour de France, and I’ve fallen off half-dead from my bicycle, ready to take a 100-year nap. In my mind, I have already won the prize just by being ready enough to submit the work regardless of if it gets published or not. Even a rejection letter is like payday.
So… when I get the work back from the publication and they say, “Hey this is great stuff… we would like to publish it… however could you change this, and this, and this?” I am no longer in the head space and I have, in fact, left France. But I guess now I have to go there again.
When does one know when to stop? You could literally rewrite something endlessly – until the letters start to jumble together like a parade of endless mocking ants.
The Tour de France reference is from “Les Triplettes de Belleville”.