Well, I found my mojo.
How, you ask? I merely rolled up my sleeves and started writing. And I didn't quit until my eyes glazed over.
Each day this week. Without fail. I didn't blog. I didn't read blogs. I stayed off Facebook and Twitter. I even managed to (mostly) avoid my baseball PS3 game. Oh, and even real baseball, except for night games.
Yesterday, for instance, I sat down to write a particularly big scene in Empty Spaces, one I had been looking forward to writing for quite some time. I had no idea how long it would be, I only knew I wanted to finish it in one sitting.
I did.
And it was 3,500 words long. I know that's a piece of cake for some writers to knock off in a day, but I tend to agonize over each and ever sentence -- even going back and rewriting after only a couple of paragraphs. So, it was a pretty big deal for me.
All told, I wrote a bit less than 10k words this week, bringing the manuscript up to 26k. Still a ways to go, sure, but I'm back into the story and it's starting to well up inside of me, like The Devil You Don't Know did when I was writing it every day.
I'm still a bit down, since I've heard nothing from any agents except one since the Writer's Digest conference in late January. That means I still have two partials and a full out, not to mention more than 20 queries. Some of the queries are several months old now, so I'm assuming a no on them. But many are less than a couple months old, so there's still hope.
And no, I haven't pulled the trigger on self-publishing yet. I'm not sure I ever will, to be honest. But I think it's wise to keep it as a fall-back right now for TDYDK.
I'm really sorry I've been absent on the Internets recently. I promise to post more here and hit all of your awesome blogs. Honestly. It just seemed important to me that I somehow climb back into the writing saddle and start riding again.
And, thank God, I did.
How was your writing week?
Hey, always remember, the writing comes first. Before the blogs, twitter and Fb and anything else except your family.
ReplyDeleteSo go you! Glad to see you around. I was getting worried for a minute and I figured if you didn't appear by next week, I would have to send you another email. But here you are.
And remember too, that agents sit on partials and fulls. You're in the queue now, that's all that counts. It may take 6 months or longer. More than enough time to finish your new book and have it shiny.
9+K in a week is nothing to sneeze at. 26k and you're a quarter finished. That's pretty good.
Now, get back on that horse and keep galloping until you write the end.
Glad to hear that you got your Mojo back! Those bumps that make us question what we're doing are the toughest. Once you get past them, though, it's like a whole new world!
ReplyDeleteJust 1 Writer
I too had a major writing week. I too am writing a novel (and a blog and trying to get into magazines and...) And in spite of the fact that I have a mentor who has told me she would introduce me to agents, I am leaning towards self-publishing first. I'm not sure getting a possible 4% after waiting a minimum of two years for publishing--and that after trying to land an agent and that agent trying to sell to a publisher--and then possibly getting remaindered--is a better deal. Things have changed. You still have to do all your own marketing either way. I'll be interested in how you navigate this. Congratulations on a good week. It was!
ReplyDeleteI've been so busy with school and work that I'm definitely in a writing slump. But you've inspired me - I'm going to sit down and write a scene tonight if it kills me! =)
ReplyDeleteCool post. And as Jack London once said: 'You can't wait for inspiratio, you have to go after it with a club.'
ReplyDeleteI find myself in somewhat of a valley. I can't get my mind organized. It is hard to put into words.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are back! You have been missed.
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