Drawing from the Well
Queries: 53 (+4)
Rejections: 46 (+12)
First Eighth
Chapter 4 of 89
Scene 16 of 498
Word Count: 4102 (+784)
A few things…
Yeah, I’m back to querying in earnest. I took some time to go through…
Okay, let’s back up a little more. I keep a spreadsheet for my Agent List. If this is more than your first time to the blog, you’ll not be surprised by that. However, this is a recommended method for keeping track of queries sent and responses so I’m not totally crazy. This time. Agent names are highlighted in one of three colors: red for either having queried back in 2017 prior to contracting my wonderful editor Monica Wilcox (@JMWEditor) OR they are not a good fit for me (i.e. they don’t take fantasy or are no longer an editor or only accept YW fantasy, things like that); yellow for potential additional agent choices upon rejection from a current submission at the same firm; and green for submitted.
So I took some time this morning to go through both the greens and the yellows. I closed out a bunch of greens that had not responded in an amount of time far beyond what is quoted on their website or the average on QueryTracker. I also flipped some yellows to reds based on guidelines on their website stating to only query one agent at their firm.
That helped focus me and so I sent out four new queries this morning. I want to beef up my backlog of sent queries to which I am awaiting response. That clear column for greens helps encourage me.
I also spent some time last night updating my tracking worksheets (seen here). I feel like this will go a long way toward helping me keep accurate track of my progress as well as keeping the wind in my sails full. I’ll start including the latest screenshot in each of my updates starting…
Filling the Well
The Bible: 79%
The Handmaid’s Tale: 25%
Blue Lily, Lily Blue: 24%
Miraclist: 20%
I got a little Bible reading in this morning and am feeling good about it. I had fallen quite far behind. I’m still a couple days back, but that’s much easier to recover from than a week. Plus, I just made it to the New Testament after finishing the entire Old Testament. It feels like an incredible achievement as I’ve never finished it before. Now I’m diving into the early gospels and finding interesting parallels and differences between them since this plan has me reading chronologically rather than front-to-back as bound. Keep you posted.
Polishing the Well
Nothing new since yesterday. My focus has been on the writing. As it should be. Share more when I have it.
Well Chat
…Or Twisting Her Arm
Although this is a shot from Taming of the Shrew, I found it appropriate for today’s topic. Many authors talk about their relationship with “their muse.” So let’s discuss what that means and what it means to tame it.
In Greek mythology, the muses were the three or nine daughters of Zeus (there is not consensus on how many and at times their parentage is called into question but I digress). Each of the muses is aligned with a particular aspect, as most Greek deities are, such as Memory, Song, Comedy, Tragedy, etc. The muses were included in various myths and were later quoted by dramatic authors and playwrights of centuries past when they struggled with writing. They said that they could not find their muse to signify that they could not find sufficient inspiration.
In modern times, this analogous metaphor is still in use. Many authors talk about their relationship with their muse to describe their work ethic and what they do when they have the time and desire to write but lack inspiration. This is not so different from medieval times. Now, though, many authors work hard to “tame their muse.” This means forcing themselves to work through times when they lack inspiration to force ideas to come. I usually describe this as making sure the faucet is on and if it’s not, I write SOMETHING until it turns on in the creative center of my brain.
Why do I talk about this today? Because I almost didn’t post a blog. I had the time and the desire to post. I get a lot of fulfillment out of posting my thoughts and feelings to those out there reading them. It’s also a great way to get the words pumping and turn on my figurative faucet. But today, it just wasn’t happening. I had no topic and so I thought it would be better to not post than to post drivel.
This is important for a couple of reasons. One: We’re talking about my blog. At the end of the day, writers are writers because they write. My blog is a supplement but if I don’t keep writing actual stories, then I’m a blogger, not an author. The difference is subtle, but it is there. So I thought my time would be better spent on that than this until something occurred to me that was worthy of blogging (look what happened). Two: Authors should NOT do this with their craft. Whether you write poetry or scripts or short stories or novels, if you have nothing to say, you should still write. I’ve read and said many times that you can’t edit an empty page. If you write dross, you can fix it or cut it later, but without anything written, you aren’t moving forward. Now, you should definitely only write a certain thing when you have something to say about it, but you can have something to say and not know how to say it and STILL WRITE.
THAT is how I tame my muse. I write even if it is like pulling sludge from a swamp bare-handed. It may be awful, but it’s something. And without fail, eventually my muse appears and I can get some good creative work done. As Stephen King says:
Your job is to make sure the muse knows where you’re going to be every day from nine ’til noon. or seven ’til three. If he does know, I assure you that sooner or later he’ll start showing up.
–Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG