Writing Life
I'm thinking one of the prerequisites for a writing career should be patience. Seriously. No one talks about the patience needed to go over each page again and again like some manic cleaner tending to the grout with an old toothbrush. Not that I would know anything about such sick tendencies. ;)
No one talks about the long, long, long period between submission and response. Well, to be fair I've read a couple of published authors who were frank about how long the road was, but I've paid more attention to the chipper call stories that run along the lines of:
"So I express mailed the requested full on Friday and the following Friday the lovely editor called to tell me they loved it."
Was it one of those brightly polished manuscripts that had been revised fifty times over a period of years? Maybe. Maybe it was dashed off over a few weeks. Does it matter?
I think one of the best things I can do for my writing is to recognize my strengths and weaknesses.
I may never dash off perfect copy. Actually, I'm pretty certain I won't. This doesn't mean I can't do a good job of polishing a manuscript. It does mean I need to accept how much time that process takes. Speed is not the objective, quality is.
No one talks about the long, long, long period between submission and response. Well, to be fair I've read a couple of published authors who were frank about how long the road was, but I've paid more attention to the chipper call stories that run along the lines of:
"So I express mailed the requested full on Friday and the following Friday the lovely editor called to tell me they loved it."
Was it one of those brightly polished manuscripts that had been revised fifty times over a period of years? Maybe. Maybe it was dashed off over a few weeks. Does it matter?
I think one of the best things I can do for my writing is to recognize my strengths and weaknesses.
I may never dash off perfect copy. Actually, I'm pretty certain I won't. This doesn't mean I can't do a good job of polishing a manuscript. It does mean I need to accept how much time that process takes. Speed is not the objective, quality is.
posted by Evanne Lorraine at 2:45 PM
4 Comments:
OMG don't I know it! When I mailed my full, I was thinking something along the lines of, "wow, the editor sure liked the partial, and since I'm sending it so quickly she'll surely remember it and get right to reading it!" LOL Now it's been two months and I'm wondering if this will be one of those 6-12 month waits that ends in rejection...
May patience (and good news) be with us all. :-)
Melissa,
My patience, alas is still small. Writing may succeed in teaching me that fine trait yet.LOL
You do have two submissions in - both to your target line. That's a good thing.:)
My husband said, "Writing isn't a race." That's so true, although I wish it wasn't. LOL!
Not a race, not a race, not a race. He may be on to something there. LOL
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