Drawing from the Well
Now that I’ve finished Phase 3 (see my phased approach at writing here), the structure of this section is going to shift a little bit. The Phase 6 querying section will see an update to make it more compact and easier to read, but Phase 4’s drafting will follow the format I built for my word-tracking spreadsheet in Phase 3. Going forward, you can expect to see the following:
Queries: 48 (+0)
Rejections: 31 (+0)
First Eighth
Chapter 1 of 89
Scene 4 of 498
Word Count: 996 (+996)
This will show you where I am along the journey now that I know the total number of chapters and scenes (at least for the second draft) as well as the current word count and progress since my last blog post.
My goal is 1,000 words a day. I know I’ll have days I write less and I hope there are days I write much more, but this seems like a nice round goal. I’ve used this goal before to fuel the flames of my passion and it’s slightly more than 750words.com prescribes. I’m basically there for today, but we’ll see how this goes.
Also, 3 days to #PitMad.
Filling the Well
Bloodwitch: 100%! (Book 29 of 25 for #ProjectBookworm2019)
The Bible: 76%
Blue Lily, Lily Blue: 24%
The Handmaid’s Tale: 1%
Yay! Another book finished. This is my fourth year doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge. So far:
2016 Goal: 15, Read: 25
2017 Goal: 20, Read: 34
2018 Goal: 25, Read: 25
2019 Goal: 25, Read: 29 (so far)
I didn’t raise my goal for 2019 because I barely met it last year but I hit a significant slump from May to September and spent September and November catching up only to not finish a single book in December. This year I’ve had a much steadier cadence and filled with some short stories so the count has shot up quickly. Here’s hoping I can keep it up through year end. If I keep up this pace, I’ll crack 40 books before Christmas. I think I’ll bump up my reading goal for 2020.
Polishing the Well
Happy Labor Day everyone. To quote the late comic Ralphie May, “In honor of everyone working, we’re not going to.” That said, we’ve got plans to get some things done around the house today especially to prepare for Hurricane Dorian. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with relaxation and barbecue.
Well Chat
One of the Worst Feelings
As a counterpoint to my blog yesterday, let’s talk about the dark side of accomplishments: their lack. Finishing a draft feels awesome. Getting through multiple rounds of editing to arrive at what you think is the final, most perfect version of your book ever makes you feel like you can fly. You can’t wait to get it into the hands of the world.
And then someone says it’s not good enough. And what you hear is that YOU aren’t good enough. It’s crushing and disappointing. But you grit your teeth, pull yourself up by your boot straps, and send another query. And another. And another. After thirty rejections, you know what I’ve learned?
It doesn’t get any easier to stomach it.
Every single time I get an e-mail from an agent saying some version of “No, thank you.” my heart sinks right to my feet. I sigh and wish that this had been the time that someone wanted to see more. But it isn’t. I question my work, my skill, myself. I wonder if I’m going down the right path, if my book is ready for querying or if I’m still deluding myself, if I need to do more research. I try to figure out what my major malfunction is.
And then I remember that this business, this industry, is highly subjective. It is all up to trends and tastes and opinions. That doesn’t mean what I’ve written is wrong or bad, it means I haven’t found the right place to plug this in. My book is a key and I just haven’t found the right lock to open up the world of publishing for me yet.
My lock is out there. I WILL find it. And I just have to keep reminding myself that my key isn’t a bad key, I’m just looking at the wrong lock. That’s my solace when rejection gets me down.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG