I've decided to change my profile from 'aspiring author' to Author. It's part of my positive thinking plan. After all, I am an Author, just an unpublished one - for now (see the positive thinking hard at work? wink, wink). We've had a lot of rainy days here and thanks to the monsoon, and the way the gloom puts my creativity into high gear, I've completed the first chapter of my re-write and I'm feeling pretty positive about it.
Just a few days ago, I was lost in the throngs of my mind, debating about whether or not I wanted to do the re-write. I'm sure I'm not the only Author (I like the sound of that), that has flip flopped a hundred times a day as to whether or not they were going to keep pushing towards their goal, towards their dream.
I've been really busy following Author's blogs and gazing through the Twitter stream. I came across something where a perspective author was debating about finishing a book because she got to 40,000 words and just wasn't into it anymore. Really? Is that it? I was thinking. Maybe it was better that she dropped it.
As an Author (I'm getting used to that) you have to have a commitment to your story, to the plot, to the characters. If you aren't enthused about it, how will anyone else be? Why write about it at all? That's part of why I know that I can't quit on my Dreams series. I owe it to myself, it's been a two year investment, and a combined 250,000 words later, I owe it to the characters that I've created. What would Anna do? Would she pack it in and quit? Would she just give up? Would Mayson let her? What about Sophie? If Gus could talk, what would he say? Would AJ want Anna to quit? Of course not.
I know I'm not my character but, maybe I can draw from her strength. If she teaches me anything, its perseverance. To take things as they come, one step at a time. If a day at a time is too much, then take it hour by hour or minute by minute.
Do you wanna talk about perseverance? I read on a blog that it ONLY took two hundred (I spelled it out for the dramatic effect) that's right 200 queries for this one author to land an agent, resulting in a published book deal. Jeez, is that all?
Sorry for the sarcasm but, you can imagine how intimidating that sounds...two hundred queries, when most people I know hone in on their top ten or twenty agents. I don't think that that particular query, and its manuscript were bad. It just took a while for it to get to the right person's hands. Not everyone likes french fries, and even fewer people like to dip them in ice cream - it's all about preference. Andrea Brown Literary Agency says that it only takes one 'Yes'. After hearing two hundred 'No's', I bet that 'Yes' was as refreshing as a cold glass of water inside the gates of hell.
As Authors, why do we want to be published? Sure, there's the hope that we'll sell a million copies of our book and increase the cushions in our bank account, and be able to spend our days writing stories we are passionate about and creating characters that make us laugh, cry, and dream, and maybe we'll be able to get free of our overly-air conditioned offices that leave our toes numb and our lips blue, - of course there is all of that. But, there is something else too. Validation.
Validation that the ideas that come to us in the middle of the night, or when we are standing in line at the grocery store, or watching our kids play at the park, are great, full of life, and deserving of being shared with the world. Validation that we're just as good as anyone else whose been published. And validation that we have what it takes to make it as a recognized, professional Author.
So, two hundred queries... if that's what it takes, I guess I should start making my lists now...
Great blog!
ReplyDelete