I tend to have an obsessive personality. It sounds bad, but I don’t think it always is. What I mean by “obsessive personality” is that when I set my mind on doing something, or discover a new hobby that I love, I can often develop a one-track mind. When I decided to try out quilting earlier this year, for example, I went from knowing nothing about it to having enough fabric to create not one, not two, but three quilts. Luckily it is a hobby I truly have grown to love and am still stitching away on—not all of the objects of my obsessive personality end up as long-term passions, unfortunately.
One of the things that has stuck with me for almost as long as I can remember, though, is writing. I guess you could say that I’m obsessed with writing, although my level of obsession ebbs and flows.
Recently I’ve become obsessed with all I can possibly learn about the querying process. If you are unaware, I finished my first book-length manuscript earlier this year. It sat on my hard drive for a while after typing “THE END,” has been edited numerous times at this point, and has received feedback from a couple of beta readers since then. So now that the manuscript is as polished as I can most likely make it (fingers crossed), I’ve delved into the querying process.
Well, it’s not exactly my first time querying this book, though the first time was a little unconventional. I actually pitched this book at a writing conference earlier this year to a literary agent and was asked to send my full manuscript. This was an exciting and exhilarating prospect given that this was the first time I was sharing my book with the world in any form. I sent along my manuscript then, and ultimately have yet to hear back with either positive or negative feedback, so I decided it was probably about time I began to query other agents.
So I did.
And I’ve learned so much as I’ve embarked on my newest obsession.
Since deciding to query even more, I’ve been reading, watching, and even listening to advice from literary agents across the interwebs. I’ve even mentioned some of the said agents I’ve been watching in a previous newsletter. And what, you might ask, have I learned by consuming so much querying advice from every corner of the internet?
In many ways, I’ve learned more about writers than about agents.
While watching a YouTube video or perusing #TenQueries on Twitter, I’ve noticed an unwelcome writerly trend:
Sometimes writers can come across as an awfully entitled bunch.
The thing is that no one owes you publication. You are not entitled to readers simply because you write (don’t I know it—if only that was the case this newsletter would have a million subscribers!)
Yet the comments on YouTube videos and the Tweets writers send out into the universe are often full of snarky comments towards the very agents and publishers they hope will champion their books. Since taking a deep dive into the world of querying and publishing advice available online, I’ve seen comment after comment from angry writers who believe that the reason they’re not getting any bites on their manuscript is because agents are out to personally squash their dreams, or because editors with years of experience simply have terrible tastes when it comes to reading (you know, the thing they are actually paid to do?)
This mindset has baffled me.
At various points in my writing ventures, I’ve thought about becoming an agent.
Or working for a publishing house, or being a freelance editor. I love writing, and if it turns out I can’t make it as a traditionally published writer, I’ll probably take any job I can get just so I can stay in this business in some capacity.
But comments like the ones I’ve seen in the past few weeks definitely make me rethink that possibility.
You see, writing is both subjective and selective.
And yes, sometimes that’s a truly terrible combination. It does, in fact, mean that making it in this industry is hard. It’s dog-eat-dog out there—trust me, I know. I’ve had days that absolutely crushed me with the weight of yet another rejection (or rejections,) only to be ecstatic the next day when I finally get that long-awaited “yes!”
Being a writer is a hard, hard thing to do, and yet I persist.
But that doesn’t mean I’m owed anything from the agents I’ve submitted to, or the publication editors who have rejected me time and time again on Medium, or from you—the very person reading this right now (please tell me there’s actually someone reading this right now.)
True writers write because they must. Because an idea comes to them and they can’t escape it until the words literally pour out of their fingertips.
Whether I’m published or not, I’m going to keep writing because even when I’m overwhelmed with life and a multitude of other things are vying for my attention, I still sit down and type.
Because that’s what the true attitude of writing is—it’s an obsession. A need to keep going even when the odds are stacked against you.
Here are the places my words have ended up since I last wrote:
The Key to Successful Journaling Is Not Following Any Rules published in Ascent Publication
An Unpopular Poetry Opinion published on Medium
How to Get Your Writing in Every Day republished on my blog
Winding republished on my blog
Writing Good Villains republished on my blog
The Art of the Synopsis republished on my blog
Again, not much is new in my reading world this week as I continue to read An Echo in the Bone. I will say, however, that there are some new POVs in this book that I have not seen in previous Outlander books, and I’m enjoying the change of pace!
And back to good ole Twitter! You may have scratched your head when I mentioned #TenQueries earlier, but it’s a popular hashtag agents use. When an agent uses #TenQueries, they are going through ten query letters in their inbox to give a glimpse into the life of an agent, including what grabs them (or doesn’t) about any given query. I’ve discovered that there is also a podcast that does this live with an agent, and I’ve enjoyed listening to some of their episodes. The podcast is The Manuscript Academy, and it’s hosted by one writer and one agent. I find it fascinating to listen to an agent go through their thought process as they peruse their inbox, and am sure you will, too!