August 15, 2011

For you, what is the hardest part of writing? Getting started? Making time? Finding ideas, or maybe dealing with rejection?

Perhaps the hardest part is the endless waiting that goes with this profession. You wait for word from a critique partner, then an editor or agent. When a book comes out, you wait for reviews and reader reaction and sales figures.

The question isn’t whether you will have to wait during the publishing process. You will. It’s a fact, no matter who you are. The question is how you will wait. Waiting involves more than entertaining yourself (with blogging, reading, watching movies, talking on the phone, or eating out) to make the time pass with less stress.

Ingredients of Waiting

If you want to survive in this thing we call the writing life, your waiting has to be different. While it’s a difficult skill to learn, you need to wait patiently, productively, and expectantly. Here’s what Webster’s has to say…so think about these traits in connection to your writing life.

Patiently: bearing pains, suffering, and trials without complaint; manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain; not hasty or impetuous; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity.

Productively: having the quality or power of producing, especially in abundance; yielding results; continuing to be used in the formation of new words or constructions.

Expectantly: looking forward to something with a high degree of certainty; usually involves the idea of preparing or envisioning; much more than wishful thinking

Honest Self-Assessment

Is that how you wait to hear from an agent or editor? Are you uncomplaining (to yourself, your critique group, your family, your blog readers)? Are you steadfast, not making hasty decisions (like sending angry emails or posting nasty comments in discussion groups)? Do you show forbearance under the strain? Then you wait patiently.

Do you work on other projects while you wait? Do you continue to study and go to your critique group? Do you refuse to sit and not write until you hear the fate of your current manuscript? Do you focus on the current work-in-progress, giving it your undivided attention? Then you wait productively.

Do you have a clear vision of where you want to be as a writer five years from now? A year? A month? Do you work hard and work consistently on your craft, expecting to improve steadily over time? Even while you wait, are you preparing yourself physically and mentally to be the writer you’ve always wanted to be? Then you wait expectantly.

Be a Professional

Wannabe writers complain when editors and agents don’t respond within a week. Wannabe writers won’t write another word until they sell their current manuscript. Wannabe writers continually tell themselves and others that the odds are terrible and they’ll never sell anything.

Professional writers don’t like waiting either–nor do they always like the answer that comes. But they don’t waste the waiting time. They use it to write and grow and move ahead.

Waiting well is a skill you can acquire. You (and everyone in your environment) will be happier if you learn this skill. Don’t let waiting times–no matter how long they drag on–cause a setback in your writing.

If waiting well is a problem for you, don’t just read this post, agree mentally, and move on with your day. Stop and make a list of specific changes you can make to wait patiently, productively, and expectantly. Then incorporate those changes into your daily writing life.

Be steadfast and don’t complain. Continue to work. Expect and prepare for success. When it comes, it will have been worth the wait.

June 24, 2011

Okay, you prepared (Stage One). You explored your options (Stage Two). You got started (Stage Three). Now you’re ready for Stage Four of “The Five Stages of Success”, where you survive and thrive.

Start-Up Speeds

You might have had a very fast start. That would be the writer who published the first thing he submitted, or his first novel was a Newbery Honor Book. These overnight successes are at the extreme end of the bell curve.

The other extreme end of the “survival and growth” stage is where you find the most dedicated, determined writers. They sell articles about “how I made my first sale on my 239th submission” or they sell a book they’ve been working on diligently for twenty years.

Average Writers

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. This stage is the most challenging, partly because it’s usually the longest. There is a lot to learn about the writing business, and improving one’s writing craft simply takes time. If you know that and truly understand it, you will enjoy this stage of your success so much more.

It shouldn’t be rushed through. Try to resist society’s “instant gratification” message when it comes to your writing. More and more, I’m receiving emails from new writers saying, “I haven’t had a response in two months from a publisher. I shouldn’t have to wait to be published!” And I think, Why not?

Writers for centuries have had to wait and practice and revise before being published. And thank goodness they did! Even writers like Jane Austen didn’t write early drafts that were very good. So don’t get in a rush. All you will accomplish by that attitude is getting material self-published that is way less than your best is going to be. Nearly everyone I hear from who did this regrets it later.

Growth is Fun

So where’s the success in this stage if it takes such a long time?

I believe there are dozens and dozens of mini-successes spread throughout this stage. They include things like:

• finishing your first book
• attending a conference
• making a new writing friend
• small sales and large sales–celebrate each one!
• being asked to speak to kids or librarians
• the years your income taxes reflect “black” instead of “red”
• good reviews
• book signings (whether you sell many books or not)
• autographing books for your friends and family
• and so many more!

During this “surviving and growing” stage it’s easy to get fixated on all the things you can’t do yet. Don’t forget to notice–and celebrate–that you ARE making it! You are growing. You are getting there, step by step.

One Regret

If I could do one thing over in my writing life and make one change, this would be it: Celebrate everything!

Pat yourself on the back if no one else does. Reward yourself for each little success. We certainly go on and on about our rejections. Let’s go on and on about the successful steps we make!

May 14, 2010

Don’t you wish you could be a spy at a publishing house? You could eavesdrop as the “powers that be” make publishing decisions, accepting this manuscript but rejecting another one.

Wouldn’t you love an inside track so you can understand the process behind acquisitions at traditional publishing houses?

Now’s Your Chance

You can do that today! Several publishing houses have given us a glimpse of what goes on during their publication board meetings. I hope you’ll take time to read these “behind the scenes” descriptions.

Here’s what happens at Peachtree Publishers.

And a Little, Brown editor shares her view.

Author and editor Harold Underdown explains the acquisitions process so well!

Taking the Fear Out

Sometimes the best thing you can do as a new writer is to educate yourself about the publishing process. So get yourself a cup of coffee or bowl of popcorn, settle back, and devour these articles.

The process may sound complicated–even daunting–the first time you read about it. But knowledge is power–and knowing what goes on behind closed doors at publishing houses can only help you in your quest for a traditional publisher.

February 17, 2010

Rejection is part of the writing life. Writers have always struggled not to take rejection personally. Unless you’re super human, it deals a blow to one’s self-esteem.

“To be a writer is to be rejected. I’m not kidding,” says Rachel Ballon, Ph.D., author of The Writer’s Portable Therapist. “Those writers who stop writing the first time they’re rejected can’t call themselves writers because rejection is part and parcel of the writing game. It isn’t what happens to you IF you’re rejected, it’s what you do or don’t do WHEN you’re rejected.”

You Can Recover

I get concerned when my writer friends and students get so beaten down by a rejection. (And with our struggling economy lately, rejections are happening more frequently.) Rejections do hurt, and the disappointment can be huge. All the “don’t take it personally” lectures don’t help much then. You need more, especially in the initial stages when the rejection is new and raw.

“Expect rejection and disappointments with the knowledge that you’ll recover from them,” says Ballon. “Be just as prepared for rejection as you’re prepared for an earthquake in California or a hurricane in Florida.”

Plan Ahead

I never thought of that before: prepare for rejection. It makes sense though!

Most of my family members live in Florida now, and when a tropical storm is building to hurricane status, they go into motion like a well oiled machine. Buy batteries and food staples. Nail plywood over windows. Make sure generator works. Stock up on drinkable water. They don’t just sit back and hope the hurricane veers off and misses them. They know that the likelihood of being hit by a hurricane is low, but definitely possible. Being prepared has saved their lives and property more than once. And their plans for recovery and clean-up go into effect as soon as the storm passes.

The likelihood of writers being rejected is about 100%–much worse odds than destruction from an earthquake or hurricane. But how many of us have a plan for recovering from that particular professional “disaster”? Not many, I’m guessing. But we should have. We know it’s coming from time to time. And I wonder if we wouldn’t respond better if we planned for it.

Strategy

How do you plan for the day-perhaps after months of hopeful waiting or interested nibbles-when your story or novel or proposal is rejected? How can you prepare for it? Well, what makes you feel better when you’ve been rejected by someone in your personal life?

• A hot bath and a good novel?
• A phone call to your best friend?
• A candy bar or Starbucks coffee?
• Hanging out with people who do love you?
• Going for a hard sweaty run or bike ride?
• Journaling?
• Curling up with a “feel good” movie or chick flick?

Chances are, those same things will help you through a manuscript rejection. They can be the solace for your bruised soul.

Plan Ahead-Work Your Plan

I think I’m going to make a list on a card called “Rejection Recovery Strategies” and tack it to my bulletin board. And the next time a book or proposal comes back to me, I’m going to stop the presses, reach for that recovery card, and do as many activities as it takes until I feel better.

I suspect that if we do this for a day or two-the necessary self-care and self-nurturing-we’ll be able to write in a few days. Maybe even sooner. Rejection causes wounds, and wounds need to heal. Pretending the wound isn’t there won’t work. It will just fester if left untreated-and it might get so painful that you give up writing altogether. And that would be a shame.

If you have a minute, share with me a favorite rejection recovery strategy of yours!

December 19, 2007

In 2007 I had several deadlines to meet in order to finish writing a middle grade mystery series to be released next May. So, in contemplating ways to write more in 2008, I decided first to add up the actual number of words I’d written this year. It was a LOT less that I had guessed. I had finished the short middle grade books and written two proposals. That’s all. I tried to figure out why, but couldn’t. I had had no major interruptions this year–no deaths or divorces, no horrible illnesses, no new grandbabies. In other words, no real excuses! We had moved to a new house, but that’s a minor thing in the scheme of things.

There was no getting around it. Between the times I turned in manuscripts or submitted the proposals, I must have wasted a lot of writing time. While I was waiting for the next deadline to creep closer, while I was waiting to see what would happen with the proposals, I must have done everything but write. Waiting well is an art that I need to relearn.

Jane Yolen‘s advice to write daily (my 12/14 blog) if you want to write more and write better is key. And it’s what we need to do while we’re waiting to hear back from editors. Taking a short break is refreshing. A break that lasts weeks or months is deadly to our writing. We can’t allow ourselves to get caught up in the angst of waiting to hear from editors or agents. We need to turn that emotional energy to writing our next (and better) manuscript.

If writing while you wait is a challenge for you, see my article “Waiting! Waiting!” on Terry Whalin’s website Right-Writing.com.