Tuesday, November 17, 2009

It's just half a glass of water, stupid!

Agent Nathan has a timely post for me today. It’s all about waiting and how we—on the waiting end of things—have no control over the process. For some, this can be extremely nerve-racking. He talks about the “breaking point” were writers start to lose it—checking email every ten second, losing faith in their project.

I have to honestly say that I’ve not reached that point. The biggest part of that is I have a rockstar agent who keeps me in the loop—and thankfully, the loop has been encouraging so far. Another part of it is that I’m writing like a crazy person. Ideas in head. Can’t get onto paper fast enough. Don’t bother with full sentences—too slow.

But, really, I’ve thought a bit about my approach to things lately. People who know my work is on submission to editors ask how it’s going. I don’t have any definitive news, so I get the “no news is good news” comments or “the glass-is-half-full” people telling me I’ll hear soon and then my book is destined for the NYT bestseller list.

What I realized about myself through this whole process is that I’m not a glass-half-full person. But I’m not a glass-half-empty person either. I’m a “It’s half a glass of water, Stupid!” person. It is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. No new is just no news. Not good or bad.

So where do you fall?

6 comments:

  1. I'm waiting, too. My book went out on submission last week. And I've definitely been a bit distracted at times. Yes, no news is just no news. I'm focusing on a big revision of another novel. That helps. Good luck with your submission. I hope you here good news soon. News that fills your glass to the brim and spills over.

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  2. That was a great post Nathan put up. I definitely smiled thinking about it. Waiting is so hard! Keeping the faith, keeping busy, and banding together with other writers is the way to get through :)

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  3. Great attitude, Lisa. I agree, no news is just no news. But at the same time - your book rocks, so there will be good news on the horizon, I've no doubt!

    And when my book was on submission I was a total basketcase; definitely part of the check email every five minutes, despair when no new messages club.

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  4. Paul--

    Keep me posted on your news! Fingers crossed!


    Suzie--

    Thanks for all your encouragement! You rock!


    Andrea--

    You had no reason to worry. Your books rock. I'm on chapter 3 of WOLFSBANE and loving it.

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  5. I had to laugh when reading this because I just updated my bio section and wrote that I am a glass half full type of girl.
    Life is full of possibilities. I see it as this-when the glass if half full there is room to add more to my cup.

    Great blog post.

    Maribeth

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  6. Marybeth--

    I think everyone has a strategy that works for them. I think, for me, having no expectations makes it easier to roll with the punches. I see those possibilites too, and I obviously hope for the best, I just try not to expect it.

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