Thursday, February 17, 2011

While I wait


Hi there. It's been a while, I know. What have I been doing, you ask?

Well, I've been writing my next novel. I've also been sick, as has most of the family during the past week. I'm also gearing up for my yearly mission trip to the Yucatan. I leave a week from Saturday, and already I'm feeling harried and ill-prepared. In other words, the same old, same old.

But mostly, I've been waiting. You know the feeling, right? At the Writers Digest Conference a few weeks ago, I had four requests by agents to read The Devil You Don't Know -- three partials and a full.

I got a rejection on one of the partials fairly quickly. It was a very helpful one and she said she really liked my writing, so I didn't feel too badly about it. But I've heard nothing yet from the others, nor have I heard anything from the handful of queries I sent out in a rush of anxiety upon returning home.

So, I am writing like a fiend (when I'm not too sick to sit here at my keyboard, that is).

I'm still loving the new book, Empty Spaces. It keeps taking one dark turn after another, sometimes without my permission. I'm mostly a "pantser," meaning I write organically without benefit of a full-blown outline. I do sketch out where I'm going with the book, along with some key scenes and bits of dialogue that come to me.

But mostly, I wait. If nothing else, this whole "trying to get published" scene is teaching me patience, which I sorely lack.

So, how do you guys handle the waiting? Are you able to wade into a new manuscript, or do you agonize and keep hitting refresh on gmail? (Not that I would do that, or course.)

10 comments:

  1. Ah, the waiting game...

    That's all in store for me. I'm still wading through the mud. I'll know when my novels ready. Then again, will I?

    Hope you and your family are up and about real soon, Terry.

    All the best and good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Waiting does not teach me patience. It teaches me inventive new swear words. And none of them appropriate for the Cyborg Fairytale - curse the luck.

    Good luck on your new adventures. Wow, missionary work in the Yukatan and a new novel idea. Awesome. Empty Spaces sounds like a good title. I'm sure Devil will find a home soon.

    .........dhole

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been stuck for a year now at never feeling satisfied with my MS, so I never reach the stage of querying. It's a different sort of waiting...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to the world of writing.

    Once you understand that nothing ever happens quickly in this quirky world, you become resigned.

    So work on that next manuscript. Once the first one sells, you'll have another one ready.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know what I think.

    And hey, take good care down there. Don't drink the water and stay away from the bad guys.

    Who knows, you may even find another story.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have no freaking clue what to tell you, since I'm in the same boat. I have found that hanging out on twitter and meeting up with fellow writers in the area helps to serve as a little bit of a distraction. But I still obsessively check gmail, much to my chagrin.

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, T!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am always amazed where my characters take me. sometimes it works out well, and I can take the twists & turns, but other times... I look forward to reading more. Buena suerte. Susan Kane

    ReplyDelete
  8. I keep telling myself the waiting is the easy part, because it allows you to dream about success.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Isn't it amazing (and alarming) how much of our lives we spend waiting? I am not good with the waiting game. It is hard for me to properly distract myself from the fact that some news will come that might change things. But I think it important that we all learn to ride these times, to produce even in our moments of waiting. Otherwise? Time races by.

    ReplyDelete
  10. play bazaar

    Play bazaar
    satta king Whatever amount you withdraw will be deducted from the final amount paid to your beneficiaries.

    ReplyDelete