No one told me this writing thing would involve so. Much. Waiting.
First of all, you write a query letter and send it off to potential agents and/or editors… and you wait.
Then, if you’re lucky, you might get a request for a partial. Or a synopsis. After which you might get a request for the full manuscript. So you send it off with crossed fingers and high hopes.
And you wait.
Then, if the agent/editor likes your manuscript, you start the revisions. Oh, the revisions! You write – and rewrite – the same stuff over and over until even YOU don’t want to read it anymore. But you realize that your book, far from being the wonderful, polished bit of perfection you originally imagined it to be, is now MUCH better. The storyline is stronger, the motivation makes more sense, and you got rid of that character in Chapter Three who served absolutely no purpose.
So once again, you return to your laptop to polish and proof it and send it back, and – yes, you guessed it – you wait some more.
In the interim, I continue to write. I work on the next project, capture new book ideas, make plot notes and character sketches, and research subjects ranging from teen homelessness to women’s fashions circa 1928. I save and file any relevant newspaper and magazine articles and research notes in a folder. I haunt Starbucks and drink copious amounts of coffee. I might get my hair and nails done. (Well, a girl’s gotta be camera-ready, right?)
Next (and this is the fun part), I tear pictures of likely-looking characters out of magazines and make myself an inspiration board. It’s like a mood board used by an interior designer, but instead of fabric swatches and paint samples, I use photos of actors, models, English country houses… whatever strikes my fancy and serves to illustrate my internal vision for the book.
I play with pictures, glue sticks, scissors, and poster board, just like I did in grade school. And when I’ve finished, I have a collage of images to look at. The character and location photos are often just the visual jolt I need when I’m struggling with a scene or stuck for inspiration.
And of course, there’s always the blog to write. Some weeks it’s difficult to come up with a worthy idea; when Sunday looms and I still haven’t written a single word, panic sets in. Flipping through magazines or reading the newspaper often inspires me. Sometimes all it takes is hearing a song, or just the title of a song. Other times, I wing it and start writing something. Anything.
And those “throw-something-at-the-page-and-see-if-it-sticks” blogs often turn out to be the most fun. It’s kind of like cooking – sometimes you follow the recipe exactly, but the results are just so-so. Some of the best dinner creations happen when I use ingredients I have on hand… even if those ingredients only consist of a stalk of celery, some mushrooms, and a carton of vegetable broth. Hey, great soup has started with much less.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a ‘seat-of-the-pants’ writer. (Well, maybe a little.) I start with an outline and figure out the beginning and end before I ever write a word. I have a general idea of how the middle will go, but the middle, I’ve found, is more apt to change as I go along. Characters will often take me blithely down a path quite different to the one I’ve mapped out. (And usually, their way is much better.)
But everyone’s way of writing is different, and whatever works, works. It doesn’t really matter as long as you end up with a finished draft when you’re done – hopefully one that’ll keep some lucky editor or agent feverishly turning the pages until they reach the end.
Well, my email inbox just pinged. The revision to book one is back. Again. Arghh…
So, please pardon me while I read through the changes and get back to work in front of my MacBook. Hmm, I think I need some background music; what will it be?
I search my iPod until I find a song. Ah, yes, here it is…
…”The Waiting,” by Tom Petty.
Perfect.
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