Query letters are out. Or your book is on submission. Or your editor is sitting on option. Something MIGHT happen, so you stop doing and start waiting. You burn up your creativity with scenarios. They’re reading it right now. They hate it right now. They’re going to make an offer. They’re spilling coffee on the pages. It’s going to sell! It’s never going to sell; your career is over, never going to start, and this is worth a million dollars and will be a bestseller.
You waste time online, you waste time offline. You master Angry Birds because there’s no point in working on anything new while you’re WAITING. You master Bejeweled. Luxor. Farmville. You’d start playing World of Warcraft, but you don’t want to get all involved in something while you’re waiting– when something finally happens, you’ll have to abandon it. Likewise, no point in writing, no point in– hey, let’s stalk editors on Twitter.
Let’s google. Let’s read conference notes and interviews and SCBWI profiles. She would LOVE this book; nope, he’s going to hate it. What are they saying on Twitter right now? They’re reading a manuscript, is it YOURS? It could be yours. Let’s read between the lines, now they’re talking about Starbucks, BEA, American Idol, that new book you have but you haven’t read…
It’s been a while. You should probably do something. Research, critiques, Angry Birds, read the trades, read the trends, get in an argument about self publishing. Get in an argument about self publishing with JA Konrath, because come on, if you’re going to go, go big. Tweet @neilhimself to see if he’ll respond. If @msleamichele will respond. What about @aplusk? Come ON, Ashton Kutcher replies to EVERYBODY.
Somebody will respond. You will read 5 reviews, 15 books, 32 blog posts about query letter rules, 157 tweets about trends and the back of the toothpaste tube approximately 300 times. And eventually you’ll admit you’re not doing, you’re waiting. And waiting is not an active verb. You’ll feel sheepish, and itchy, and come to a realization.
It’s time to get back to doing. Whatever happens will happen; it will happen if you’re building houses of cards, or writing your next book. Nothing you do in the meantime changes what happens to that submission, so it’s probably time to start working on the next submission. Because once you have an answer, yes, no, you will have to start all over again.
May as well get a jump on the next waiting now.
Love this!
I know this is weird because I’m not anywhere close to submitting, but knowing there’s SUCH a LONG waiting game even after I finish writing my novel is a big motivation for me to just get it written and move on to the next one.
Good luck, and happy writing! :D
Knowing what project I’m doing next has always seemed like a good way to avoid passive waiting. Usually by the time something is done I’m ready to move on anyhow.
This is SO me, but the only thing I can do is bury myself in writing. I SO SO wish I could give agents the superpower of reading at lightning speed. And hey, they’d probably like it too :D
Followed you from twitter, in case you were wondering where I fell from.
Oh, my! I needed to read this. So funny and so true. Thank you. Needed it.
Loved this post! Writers are so often sitting cross-legged and anxious in that Waiting Place. You just have to keep writing.
This is EXACTLY where I am.
Just wrote about REJECTION (yet again) on my blog…
LOVE this!
I am waiting right now (for my very first ever round of actual-editor edits! o_0) and while I’m waiting I’m trying to work on another first draft and re-establish my writing schedule. Even if I have to stop in the middle of the project, I figure that will keep my brain fresh so the edits are easier. Maybe. *crosses fingers*
I hope whatever you’re waiting for turns out to be AWESOME!
Ohhhhhh, this is so true! Thank you for making me laugh about it. :)
Found you here from Twitter – this is exactly what I’m doing right now, so thank you for the much-needed kick up the backside!
Just finished revisions for my agent (LOL), and my mind was already rolling on what the editors will say when it goes out on sub. Will they love it? Will they hate it? Will they use it in their campfires as kindling this summer?
So I decided today to send over some new ideas to my agent and see what she thinks I should tackle next. Need to keep busy or the “What if” game will drive me crazy…
Thanks for this post Saundra!!!
Thanks. This is one of the best blog posts I’ve ever read. I’m on submissions now (2 books, 6 months in on one of them, 2 months in on the other) and the waiting is making me INSANE. So thank you for this post. Awesome, just awesome.
I am WAITING right now. And trying very hard to work on that next MS. You summed up the experience to the “t.” Maybe we writers should have an Angry Birds or Bejeweled challenge??? (I’m over FarmVille–LOL)