I needed an injection of happy this morning.
Not because LIFE is bad. Life is great! Aaron has a job, we're house hunting, it's raspberry and cherry season, the pool water is warm.
It's just my writing life that's not so great. It's just not moving anywhere. And I can feel discouragement creeping in.
An honest post by Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary didn't help. She wrote about how she has queries pouring into her inbox 24-hours a day. Thousands upon thousands of queries. And I wonder, how can I compete with all that? Why is everybody and their mother suddenly deciding to become a writer?
But this morning in my Google reader I happened upon a post by Rachelle Gardner, another literary agent. Her post reminded me that I have a lot of books in me, and that if I persevere there's hope.
Anyone can sit down and write one novel. It's the people that sit down and churn out a dozen, two dozen novels, who work on honing their craft and getting better and better that will be the authors of tomorrow.
I don't want to be a one-hit wonder, do I? I don't want to be Mr. Big.
I want to be Elvis (without the hip gyrations).
If my goal is just to get one novel published, yeah, I might as well give up. But I have years and years of writing left (Lord willing) and hundreds of books to write. And who knows which of those books will finally resonate with an agent and a publishing company ... not to mention readers?
If I give up, none of them will. There will only be a silent void. And words dancing forever in my head.
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Amy--do you love to write? Could you live without writing?
ReplyDeleteSay yes to the first and no to the second, and you're set. It doesn't matter what agents say in regards to the market (I promise you): Keep writing, keep plugging, keep querying, and you'll get there someday. That's the one thing I tell myself constantly.
Don't forget it.
Oh, and smile (that is your injection of happy). SMILE! It's a gorgeous day in Washington, regardless of the weather. ;)
Cheer!
Hi -
ReplyDeleteI'm not exactly sure how I came across your blog, but I've added you to my favorites. I love to hear the crazy journey your family has been on, especially the past few months. I just wanted to encourage you in your writing. The Lord has given you a gift and He will be faithful in opening the right doors so you can use it.