Three weeks ago, I was frustrated and confused. I’d had enough of 100 word emails that told me I was no good and left me empty and doubting my own worth.

Two weeks ago, as I lay in my sleepless bed, I made a decision. I  awoke on Monday morning and began planning and gathering information. I hashed out logistics and sought guidance.

On Tuesday, I twizzled and tweaked my thinking and my plan began to take shape. I was sure it was the right decision, it had to be.

On Wednesday, I met up with Peter, my friend and sounding board and we walked by the reservoir solidifying my plans. I knew what I was doing, onwards I went.

On Wednesday evening, I received an email and my world changed.

That’s the power of words.

Only 213 words but this double wordage made all the difference. It was still a rejection of my novel by an agent but, instead of the standard rejection, this agent had taken the trouble to tell me what she did like about my novel. ‘Excited to read your proposal’, ‘great potential’, ‘strong grasp of the world you have created’ and ‘hope that our feedback will enable you to rework your initial submission and create a truly amazing novel’ were so few words and yet, they gave me hope and determination to revisit my novel and make it the best it could possibly be.

Thank you, kind agent for taking the time to reply to me. Yah! Boo! Sucks! to standard rejection letters!