“Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes, we all need a kick in the backside. Yesterday, it was me.
Spent all day frustrated. It was my own fault. (Okay, partly–some of it was waiting for someone in my payjob and I’m terrible at waiting.)
But the down deep part of my frustration was caused by a personal goal. I started querying in earnest around last September because I was hoping to have been picked up by next weekend.
(Tip: Never, ever set goals that are out of your hands. I am a professional here. I’ve published a lot of short fiction. I know the rules. Maybe it was lack of sleep or something <g>.)
But, I got up early and spent a good morning hour writing one query letter. I had researched a particular agent and thought I might capture his attention. But I screwed up– made my great query letter too long. He probably got through the first paragraph before emailing the form letter back. Seriously, it was fast. <g>
Bad Rinda!
Agents are swamped and you have to capture their attention with a short and sweet. I’ve brought this up before and man, probably will again. Sorry faithful readers. I do know and understand this. Had a moment of weakness. Damn me.
So, in chatting with my critique partner, Rachel, yesterday, I vented a tiny bit of my agitation. I wondered if I should have been querying a lot more agents at a time.
Thing is, I’m not comfortable doing that. I research each and every agent I’ve queried. I’d love to be picked up by any of the ones who have parts or all of my manuscript. I’ve paid attention to their blogs, studied their clients. I truly believe the writer/agent relationship is an important one. It’s quite a commitment on both sides.
So Rachel, of course, did what we do best for each other. She suggested an alternative way to spend my time.
“Why not focus on the new Nocturne ideas and wait to hear back from the ones who have DOTT?”
She’s right.
So, today I woke up from a good night’s sleep and thought that things could be worse.
To understand the importance of this statement, you have to see this post. 😉
With a busy weekend ahead for me, I’ll leave you with a quote to ponder.
“To surrender dreams, this may be madness.” Miguel de Cervantes
Even on the difficult days, we have to remember what we want and the kind of work and patience it takes to get there. 🙂