There are days when I wonder if I’m cut out to be a writer. No, I’m not doubting my ability to actually put words down in a coherent order either. I’m more referring to the whole “the publishing industry takes a long time” aspect of it.

Every aspect takes time: finding a publisher/agent who is interested in your writing, the publisher/agent actually accepting said work, getting a contract and so on. It means a LOT of waiting and if there is one thing I’m not good at, waiting would be it.

So what has my knickers in a bunch right now?

There are a couple BIG things on that list right now. As I may have mentioned previously, I am between jobs at the moment. I’ve had a few interviews and, in fact, have one company that seems to be very interested in me. The problem is, the people doing the actual hiring are busying so I’m not hearing from them as quickly as I would like.

The second thing is one of my books is being considered by a publisher. This is easily the furthest any of my books have ever gotten with the publisher actually requesting a few changes to the book in order to consider it for publication. They also asked about two other books in the series. That was over a month ago (I know, that’s really nothing) and I am on pins and needles. I know the publisher is busy so I’m not harassing her but it is still hard to wait.

It’s times like these that I should be focusing on my writing but I keep letting myself be distracted. Every time the phone rings or an email comes through it might be some of the news I’ve been waiting for. So I jump on it only to find it isn’t what I had hoped for.

Ah well. To coin a phrase, “the best things in life are worth waiting (and working) for” so I will continue to wait and work. I hope the waiting is easier for you than it is for me.

Personal Update

I pretty much covered the update in the post. Still waiting and working on my writing. I am in countdown mode though. Only three weeks (give or take a day) until Balticon. Yay!

Tags: agent, balticon, irreverent muse, Michell Plested, publisher, waiting, writing

My wife might argue with me about this, but I’m specifically talking about growing up as a writer.

When I first started down the writing path I can honestly say I had visions of fame and glory. Mind you, those visions didn’t last very long as I started to research the entire writing life. All the research I did served to make me more paranoid about my own writing’s quality and the actual chances any of it would ever see the light of day.

I (somehow) managed to get past the paranoia and self-doubt and kept writing. It wasn’t great, but it continued to get better. I began to submit the occasional piece. When I did so, I waited and stressed. When it (invariably) came back rejected I was crushed and spent countless hours evaluating what went wrong and gradually built my writing confidence up to the point where I started writing again.

That continued on for some time with the amount of stress I experienced decreasing marginally and the time I spent with my self-confidence in tatters decreased too. I moved from sending out a story and not writing until I received the next rejection to where I could send something out and actually work on new stuff (at a reduced level).

I’m finally to the point where all the evaluation is going away and I’m able to submit more than one story at a time. I’m also actively writing while the work is out in the wild. Case in point, I have three stories out currently: a YA novel, a fantasy novel and a fantasy short. I’m also writing and podcasting. Oh yeah, and I’m NOT stressing about the stuff that’s out there (well, not too much, anyway).

And it’s working for me. I’m no longer paralyzed by doubt. If a story isn’t accepted by one publisher, there are others that might like it. It’s a good place to be.

Where are you at in your writing life?

Personal Update

As I mentioned above, I have three stories out right now. I should hear about the YA Novel contest soon (good or bad). I already have another market lined up for it if it is rejected.

The fantasy novel was sent out as a partial a couple weeks ago and a full last night. I’ve been told to expect a response in the next three weeks. I’ve got to line up another market for it if it’s rejected.

The short story was resent two days ago and I will probably hear back within two weeks. I already have a couple places to send it should it not get picked up.

That’s not even including the new writing. In long fiction, I’m still writing and podcasting ‘GalaxyBillies’. I will be spending some time polishing some of the short fiction I wrote a while ago to send out too.

Busy times. Fun too.

Tags: fantasy, Galaxybillies, irreverent muse, Michell Plested, publisher, science fiction, submitting, writing, YA