The waiting is the hardest part

I used to be an instant gratification person. During high school, I worked at Winn’s (a Texas five and dime that went out of business a lonnnng time ago) in the fabric department. I’d buy fabric for 99 cents a yard, come home after work and make a new outfit to wear the next day. Now, that’s instant gratification.

With writing, nothing comes fast. It takes me months to write a book, more months to revise (depending on how motivated I am, ya know), and even more months to hear back. Even when I enter contests, where for the most part you have a date to mark on the calendar, I have to wait, and wait some more.

Last April I got a very exciting revision phone call from an editor after my manuscript had been in NY for 8 months. (The wait on that phone call is a story in itself – we played phone tag for a week.) I did the revisions and mailed them back on June 8. Next week the revisions will have been there a year.

In February, I queried three agents. At the end of March, one of the agents requested a partial. That was the only word I’ve heard at all.

I feel like I’ve stagnated, even though I’m working on another book. I am so not used to standing still.

During the school year I can have patience because so much other stuff is going on. But now that school is out and my brain is free, well, I feel like I should be doing something besides working on the new book. So do I call and check up? Do I wait for the mythical “desk-clearing” before National? Do I continue to haunt the mailbox? Sometimes doing nothing is the easiest and hardest thing of all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is my first blog comment, so... Anyhow, consider yourself lucky to be able to get that far in th writing process. For some of us who attempt, writers' block prevents us even from getting that far! I <3 your blog page! Very expressive, and in so short a space!

MJFredrick said...

You;ll get there, Mike. Let yourself relax and the story that will excite you will come.

Goodreads

M.J. Fredrick's books on Goodreads
Breaking DaylightBreaking Daylight
ratings: 11 (avg rating 3.33)

Beneath the SurfaceBeneath the Surface
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Hot ShotHot Shot (Samhain)
reviews: 2
ratings: 10 (avg rating 4.00)

Where There's SmokeWhere There's Smoke
ratings: 6 (avg rating 4.00)

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MJFredrick
I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
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