I'm going to have to suck it up, aren't I?

[everythingcrossed]

Hello

I used to post on the staying sane thread but the whole process has been so glacial, I drifted away. The good news is that I seem to have an agent who is interested in my novel. She initially asked for a couple of changes which I did and she queried one (imo) quite pivotal moment in the book that she thinks makes the protagonist unsympathetic. I defended it but when she asked for more changes including that passage, I softened it a little. After several weeks () she's now come back and said it really has to go. I'm so conflicted - I do want to move forward but it feels as if a part of the book that I believe is very truthful is going to be lost. Somebody give mr a slap and tell me to grow up...

It's difficult OP. I'm not averse to an unsympathetic protagonist - Talented Mr Ripley, Girl on the Train and I'm sure you know many others. But in the chain from author to agent to publisher to bookshop to reader, it's a shame to ignore feedback. Equally, you are the author and know your work. Has your agent gone to any publisher's yet and is this feedback from the market or is this her opinion in shaping the draft up before going to publishers?

Firstly, well done on the agent! That's brilliant. I'm still wallowing in the querying mire.

Secondly - what Zilla says - is it a publisher pushing for this change or just the agent? It could just be your agent's opinion...but having said that they are meant to be experienced in what they think will and won't work. If I were you, I would go with the suggested changes. (But then, I am a complete pushover.)

Have you signed contracts with her?

Congrats on the agent.

Important disclaimer - what follows is based on the assumption that the agent, being a professional in the field, with an established track record, knows what they're talking about. (If you genuinely, hand-on-heart think it's a case of "they just don't click with my character" read no further).

I'd say sit down and have a very hard think - particularly about possible synonyms for "unsympathetic."

You can get away with an unsympathetic protagonist if they are fascinating, funny, Machiavellian, larger-than-life, driving the plot forward through sheer force of personality... etc. etc. (Insert your own list here).

If you replace "unsympathetic" with "unlikely to grab the reader", can you get a better sense of where your agent might be coming from?

Try to think of it in terms of answering the question "Okay, my readers are not going to like this person, but they are going to be sufficiently fascinated that they want to keep reading because..." Make a list of your "because", then ask yourself honestly whether you're succeeding in conveying these to your reader or whether you're suffering from a case of "this character, in my head, is fascinating, thus they will automatically be fascinating to my reader on the page."

Is it just that you need a bloody good reason why someone acts so unsympathetically? What genre are you writing in? Usually a reader wants to be rooting for the main character, especially if the book's written in the third person. If that person acts in a way that makes us dislike them, then we need to know why.

Is your agent with a well known agency? If she is then I would be very wary of ignoring her advice. PM me if you like.

@blackrabbitwhiterabbit

Have you signed contracts with her?

No, that's what makes me nervous about being too stubborn. I've been submitting for several months and it's so draining, I'd really love to bring this part of the process to an end (like you I've had some full requests but no offers of representation - I was hoping to be able to give you encouraging news on your other thread but I'm not quite there yet).

I think the unsympathetic thoughts - not actions really - are justifiable as the character is grieving but the agent disagrees. She has given some thoughtful notes so far so it's probably best that I don't fight her on this one. I'm just disappointed that my genius has gone unrewarded

What you could do is keep that copy then work on another, doing what she tells you to do. Then if she sells your book, speak to your editor at the publishing house and tell her what you'd thought of doing. Then go by what she says.

Someone once said to me that they found their favourite passages often got taken out by critiques. They said because they saw them as vitally important and loved them, they found it really hard to see that they either weren't needed or were not written well. They were too close to those passages to be able to be objective. They described it as "killing their baby".
They did say though that normally later (much later) they could see that it was right to take it out.

Not saying this is definitely the case with yours but something to think about.

I say go with what she says!
(Can you tell my second full manuscript request just got rejected ten mins ago??)

Yes, I'll just do it (and see if it can be reinstated later on., HollowTalk). Thanks for all your advice - you may well be right, Witchend, it's so hard to get perspective, isn't it?

Well done, Everythingcrossed and good luck. I would kill to be in your position! (Sorry, that doesn't help)

Blackrabbits's post leads me to think of story where obsessive genius author kills rivals to secure agent then publishing deal. Unfortunately what should be Talented Mr Ripley begins to shape up like a Midsummer Murders episode.

Zilla You got me!

Blackrabbit, I expect any jury would think an author's killing of agent and/or publisher to be justifiable homicide (equivalent non-culpable verdicts available in other jurisdictions). Hope you get your dream agent getting in touch soon.

Thanks, Zilla.

EverythingCrossed, what happened in the end?

I changed the bit that she was unhappy a bit, enough for her to sign me .

Hurrah! That's great. Were you ok with having to change it?

If you are happy to DM me, please let me know which agent? (I'm just nosey and believe I have now tried most agents in the land.)