Welcome to IWSG Day. The goal of this blog hop is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a haven for insecure writers of all kinds. IWSG is the brainchild of our ninja leader Alex Cavanaugh.
I’m writing this post mid-February and pre-posting as I won’t be available closer
to the March IWSG deadline. With no monthly question to answer, I’m going
rogue. That said, as always, thank you to this month’s co-hosts and to Alex. To
read March posts from other IWSG contributors, click here.
I’ve just completed a class called; You’ve Written a Book—Now
What? It covered one line pitches, queries, publishing perspectives and
marketing plans.
Some history. I started querying my last novel late last
summer and after quick rejections, stopped to ponder what to do to improve my
chances. When the opportunity to take the course came up, it seemed like a
smart way to force myself forward. The class met on Saturdays, with a homework assignment
in between, and after our second class, the task was to write (or in my case, re-write)
our queries.
The following Monday morning I sat down to work on the main
paragraph of the query, something like 200 words. I had plans for three hours
later and usually put an alarm on my phone as a reminder, but since there was plenty
of time, I didn’t bother.
Oops! I had to bolt out of my chair to
make it to my destination in time, arriving there sans wallet and phone. I’d
looked forward to the activity, but once there couldn’t focus. Half of my brain sat back in front of my laptop, tweaking word-by-word. Then, once I arrived home again, I discovered I’d been so
distracted I’d left a folder of information behind.
Really?
It was a query letter--theoretically, not “fun” writing at
all. But it reminded me that any writing has always brought joy, even in my
vintage HR days when I’d get lost creating a training document or a relocation
piece, only to look up and realize I’d almost missed a staff meeting. As far back as Miss Markey's sixth grade creative writing class when I wrote five extra pages for an assignment just because I was having fun.
The following day I drove twenty minutes to retrieve the
folder I’d left behind, thinking that while I love when writing swallows down a deep hole, sometimes climbing out can be a challenge.
Tell me about a time that you got lost in your writing.
You really got lost if three hours passed like that!
ReplyDeleteI'm a slow writer so the times I participated in NaNo type events, it often took me four to five hours to hit the word count, but I would indeed be lost in the writing at that point.
Being lost in your work is a state of bliss. I think that is the correct way to approach doing a query letter - it is art after all.
ReplyDeleteI've had that experience writing a query letter too. I can't believe how much time I spent on it. Your class sounds awesome and hopefully is really helping you.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a class is just what we need to get ourselves on track. I hope it's going well for you!
ReplyDeleteIf I want the hours to fly, all I have to do with start on a story. Loved your account of getting lost in writing.
ReplyDeleteWhat better way to spend time than to lose it in words, your own or someone else's.
ReplyDeleteYou actually kind of nailed today's post topic! I do love it when I get lost in the work. That usually happens when I'm drafting, but more and more it's possible when revising, which is kind of encouraging.
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate you are to be so engrossed in the world you're creating that you lost track of time. Unfortunately, I'm a time-compulsive person who's constantly aware of the clock in the upper right corner of my Mac. Plus, my tummy has its own alarm clock to remind me when it needs to be fed - ha!
ReplyDeleteI miss being lost in my writing like that.
ReplyDeleteI love that post. I tend to write after 9PM so I often look up and find it's after midnight and my brain isn't ready to quit. It's wonderful until I have to crawl out of bed the next morning.
ReplyDeleteI get lost a lot! Just the other day, I was supposed to meet a friend for a walk, but I got so caught up in working on a short story "for just a few minutes" that I lost track of time. Thankfully, she ended up being late. But that "flow state" is one of my favorite parts of being a writer!
ReplyDelete