Friday, August 27, 2010

The Dangers of Waiting on a Submission

It's four weeks now since I've submitted my novel package, and my nerves are seriously starting to jangle. This is not solely because of the manuscript. Work has cranked up from "sleepy" to "very busy", and all of my weekends lately have been booked solid. Aside from blog posts, social networking and a few paragraphs here and there, I haven't written a damn thing worth mentioning since August.

Is the manuscript to blame for that? Partially. I'm always hesitant to start working on a new project while I'm waiting to hear back about an old one, especially one that I would likely be called on to revise if (fingers crossed!) the editors show any interest. It's going to be that much harder to get back into the "grim darkness" mindset if, for example, I'm writing a silly fantasy story about cows called "Knights of the Udder Side".

But that's a crappy excuse and I know it. I am not going to improve if I do not write. I am not going to get published if I do not write. And it is going to be much harder to get back into writing mode from a full stop than it is if I keep writing something, even if it is the stinking cow story. (It's not going to be the cow story. Well, probably not.)

I have another full weekend starting tomorrow, but today I'm not at work and I don't have any obligations after lunchtime, so I'm going to write. I may not write anything good, but I am going to break 1,000 words today come hell or high water. I'll update later tonight with my success; or lack thereof...

And I've just realized that I have no guarantee that my submission even made it through the publisher's spam filter. Lesson learned: Always send a brief, harmless little confirmation email along with a submission, noting that you did send something in, and would the publisher please reply if they didn't get it? Much too late now for me to send anything without being a nuisance, but maybe in another month?

That's enough of that. Ignore that terrible fear-snake writhing in your guts, Dave! Now is the time to write!

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