First of all, you have to wait for your book to be finished - which, if you're a slow poke like me, can feel like eternity in itself. I mull and ponder and mull some more until I'm happy with a scene. After I've done that with every scene and finally strung together a completed manuscript, I have to go back and edit. Commence more mulling and more pondering and throw in some hair pulling, too.
Then you send the finished product off to your betas, and wait again.
And once they get back to you? You realize "finished" has no place in the same sentence with your manuscript.
So you edit again. And you write your query. And you wait again.
Finally, you're ready to send off your CP-approved query and manuscript. And once you do?
zzzzzzzzzzz.... Huh? What? Oh...
Yep. That's right. You wait again.
Sometimes the wait is worth it, ending up in a request for material. Other times, you'll wait weeks on end for a form rejection. It's the same with submissions: you send them off, floating on a cloud because someone showed interest in your work. But then the days drag on while you wait for that response, and it can all start to feel a little tiresome.
That's where I am right now. And I'm wondering if anyone else starts to get a little bored and disenchanted with the whole process at this stage, or if I've just got a case of Instant Gratification Denied-itis?
I'm trying to concentrate on WiP #3 while I wait, but I'm finding I could use some help drumming up inspiration.
So - can anyone suggest some kind of dark, angsty music to go along with a kind of dark, angsty paranormal story? I'd really appreciate it! And then you can tell me how you keep yourself from going crazy during the waiting game. Thanks, peeps!
Who says I don't go a little crazy during the waiting stage? I think I kind of do. Currently, I'm waiting for my revised manuscript to be officially "accepted" after which begins a 60 day waiting period before my agent can submit one of my other 2 manuscripts. Yesterday, I had a mild breakdown in which I was convinced neither of those manuscripts stood a chance and maybe I should try to re-write them both in the 60 days I have. That's a little bit crazy, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteSo, I don't know if you can avoid feeling crazy, but you can try not to act on your crazy impulses.
"Disenchanted" is an understatement.
ReplyDeleteFor me, at this point, I think it's actually a GOOD thing - I don't expect anything from anyone, and so "high hopes" aren't nearly as high as they were during my first tour of duty in the query trenches.
Chessie will set you up with that playlist. She did one for me for WiP #3, and it kicked my butt into high writing gear.
((((hugs))))) Hang in. We'll all be okay. I think.
Yes! Yes, I'll make the playlist! I accept!
ReplyDelete>.<
And yeah, I know just how you feel right now. Sent what was probably a premature nudge on a partial yesterday, but when you're completely convinced the agent's just going to reject you anyway, it never seems premature.
(Also, been noticing on QueryTracker that all the agents who have my MS right now have been requesting and rejecting tons of other MSs in the time they've had mine. Not sure what to think of that...)
My dark angsty writing music is the Linkin Park station on Pandora.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm waiting and not working on my WIP, then I try to catch up on my reading list. I think I'm adding books faster than I'm marking them off. It's a slow losing battle, but a good one--someday, I hope I'll be able to read them all.
Ugh, the waiting. It's awful. As for angsty music, I used to listen to Evanescence when I was an angsty teenager. :) Good luck focusing on the new WiP!
ReplyDeleteUntil my last rewrite, I thought waiting for others is the hardest. Except now I'm in a position where I've decided to revise my ms one last time... and I've discovered waiting for myself is DEFINITELY harder. O.o
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I am sure once I dive into the trenches I'll happily change my mind again ;)
Hang in there, you can do it!! And WIP #3 will be SO awesome, I can't wait!! *grin*
music! Evanescence sounds like it could be good for a dark & angsty paranormal. maybe a Harry Potter soundtrack. Laura Marling's voice can sometimes be a little haunting, but she's definitely more angst than dark, I'd say. Massive Attack and Muse, maybe.
ReplyDeleteAnd the waiting game contiues.
ReplyDeleteOoops...
Except this isn't a game, it's your life so let me recommend a bit of Alanis Morrisette with "Forgiven", Evanescence's "Lithium" or Linkin Park's "Crawlin". Yeah, if you can't tell, I've DEFinitely had my moments of angsty-much...and NOT as a teenager :-) Try like recent past....really, really recent past.
Waiting is hard. I'm not a huge fan of it.
ReplyDelete