In the process of writing, there is a moment when everything is possible. When all the hours, days, months and years feel like they’ve got you close to what you wanted, to be read. That’s the golden period. But how long does it last?

The first rejection landed this evening, and the golden period was over. As rejections go, it wasn’t bad: good premise, but didn’t connect with the voice. It’s only one person’s response, but it brought to an end a period in an unpublished writer’s experience that was golden.

The golden period may change from writer to writer. For me, it’s the time between making the last amendments and the first rejection. It’s the period of promise and optimism.

This last period felt really good. It came at the end of a good year of rewriting. The third draft had been an enjoyable experience, and I was spending time with characters that I genuinely love. Feedback throughout the process was honest and improved my writing and the story. Five readers had returned very honest and positive notes before I completed the final draft. I was in a good place.

That’s when the golden period began. The opportunity to reflect on the work I’d done and, let’s be honest, dream a little about what could be. Even as I made the final changes to the submission letter, struggled through the synopsis and spent hours working my way through the Writers’ and Artists’ Handbook, it felt good.

They say it’s the hope that kills you, so I tried to mentally prepare for the sudden retraction of the good feeling. At that time, when everything is possible, I felt level-headed about the odds of breaking through. Regardless of how good it might be, getting published is always a long shot. The chances of making it over the numerous hurdles are slimmer than a molecule on a knife’s edge. But some people win the lottery and 200 books are published every week, so it’s possible.

In the golden period, you can enjoy the unknown. Your book could be good. There’s a chance it could be read by more than five people. It could make itself onto a shelf in a book shop. It’s all possible at this point.

It’s not a period fuelled by false optimism, egotistical belief or misplaced promise. I’ve got groups of honest writer friends who keep me right, a family who keep me grounded and an irritating lack of self-belief. I simply have a book that might work. And that’s it.

The might is what makes it golden. The unknown of whether those who are the gatekeepers to the world of publishing believe that the writing is good enough, the story engaging and that this is the right moment. It could happen.

I experienced several delays in getting the submissions out. The final tweaks to manuscripts, synopsis and letter took longer than expected. My impatience, after nearly two and a half years of writing, would normally unsettle me. However, these delays gently extended the period of grace.

That period of unknown ended when the first rejection came in. I still have a long list of agents to send it to, but does ‘not connecting with the voice’ mean more than an agent’s casual dismissal of a book? Is this how a trend will form? 

With the golden period gone, the doubts are forming, and the promise is in retreat. I’m in the ‘what now’ period. It could still happen. You never know.