If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster. ~Isaac Asimov
No news on the personal front. Sigh. It makes me more impatient the longer I have to wait. Oh well. I just have to take a deep breath and know that the news will come when I least expect it.
The lack of news and my impatience over it makes me wonder, how in the name of heck did I ever decide to become a writer? In an odd sort of way, writing does require a decent level of patience. I have to sit down and type out the words. Then I have to put them out there. And then I have to write some more.
I’ve been reading a lot of Dean Wesley Smith’s blog and his series on Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing. It is really interesting. I don’t know if I agree with it all, but I definitely find it informative. I like that he makes me think.
One of the things that he talks about is Heinlein’s rules for writing:
1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you write.
3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
4. You must put the work on the market.
5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
Now I’m not sure that I entirely agree with this set of rules. However, it seems solid enough and a good place to start. For me, in my process, “editorial order” is my brother. He is my first reader and helps me to see my writing through a reader’s eyes. I don’t take that one literally. At the same time, I think it is good advice not to polish for so long that nothing is ever done.
Further, I can see my own pitfalls in this list. Right now I am getting back on the writing bandwagon. And I know I can finish. However, I am stuck on numbers four and five. I’m not going to lie, I’m scared. There is a pit in my stomach when I think about moving forward.
I know that I can’t stay in stasis forever, but there seems to be a precipice in my mind when it comes to making the jump to get published. Part of it is my personal impatience. No matter what route I take – indie or traditional – I will have to wait for a response. There is that tinge of impatience again…instant gratification would be wonderful. Or possibly horrible.
And oddly enough, I am terrified of failure, but success frightens me even more. Tonight is making me think about the enigma of writing. Why should anybody care about what I have to say? Who says anybody does?
So far as I know, no one does. And yet, I cannot stop writing. The stories come and I write them down. I finish one and write another. Perhaps I could be an Emily Dickinson, but what fun would that be? I will get there eventually. I just need to give myself permission to jump off that metaphorical cliff. Who knows? It might be fun.
©K. Klein 2013
the musings of a worried writer 
I can appreciate your pathos. This weekend I finished a short story – “The Pursuit of Happiness” and was on fire to get it out there to be read. Fortunately, I had the good sense to query some people who know the business who advised me to take a few steps first. Today, I conceived of two prequel short stories I plan to write over the next month. Then, I’ll have a book to market that I believe can be adapted into a stage script and screen play with a little help. Sometimes it’s good to wait (and pray) and then act when the time is right.
Thanks for the thoughtful post. I wish you well.
Thank you for the comment and the well wish. 😀 Good luck with the stories.
Yes, patience – that’s the most important thing, aside from finishing something. Being scared of putting something out there might be a sign of not being ready yet. See if there are any specific things that you are worried about – your concerns are quite general, but keep asking why to them, and then asking why to the answer to that, and see if you get to a more specific point of the writing. Often when we think about taking another step in our writing we get concerned about something, and when we discover what that is we can then do another edit and the work is better for it. As for when you finally do jump off the cliff – this is the beginning: it starts you on a whole new path, which takes a long time, and has more ups and downs! Hey, no one said this writing business was easy.
Thanks for your advice. Right now I am formatting said novel so that I can give it to beta readers. 😀 I want some reader brains to take a look and see what they think. I will go back to the drawing board with any concerns they bring me. 😀
Sometimes it easy to get close to a project. I know that I can’t see the novel clearly right now. And not sure if I ever can, but I do know that I want more reader brains before I send this novel out to the big bad world. 😉
And I would definitely agree – this writing business is anything but easy. Luckily for me, I love writing, which makes all the other concerns worth it.