The Great Wait

Okay. I did it. Well, I did it like, 2 weeks ago. I sent out my first-ever batch of queries. And I've managed not to go absolutely insane in that time frame! The best way I can describe it at this point is liberating. Yes, of course there's that impending sense of doom-panic rubbing its hands in the back of my mind, but overall I feel good. Because having sent out a couple queries with pages, I've given myself permission to stop tinkering with my manuscript.

At least for the time being. I don't want to create what I've decided to call a 'versioning problem.' In my former life in quality assurance, version control was an ever present and important pillar of my work. It meant ensuring everyone had access to the same version of a document, and no changes were made without me knowing about and approving those changes before notifying everyone that "hey, there's something new in Jon's cookie recipe, read up" (ha, if only).

With that in mind, I don't want to make changes to a manuscript that is in the hands of agents and forget who has what version. Because if and when I get feedback, I'll know that Agent A read the same thing as Agent B. I won't have to figure out if that was a frantic Jon day where I scrapped certain paragraphs or added others before I sent those pages.

So in the meantime, I've backed away from that work. I've edited and rewritten it to the point where I'm just nitpicking words, which in my mind, means I've carried it as far as I can for now. I gave Ask The Bards episode 2 a listen last week, and Kevin Hearne's advice on when you know you're ready to query reinforced that sentiment (Delilah and Kevin's advice is illuminating by the way, give their podcast a listen).

Now as I play the waiting game of hearing back from very busy people, I've started cogitating on my next work. No, it's not a sequel. I don't see much value in throwing a butt load of work into a sequel for something that has yet (if it ever is) to be sold. Yes, I think I have a few threads on how to continue that story, but for now, those threads will remain loose. Besides, allowing myself to start in on something new is kind of nice, and again, liberating. Having just gone through a month or two of heavy editing, I was able to see some of the weaknesses in my own writing. Recognizing those slip ups didn't feel great at the time, but now, I feel like another stone has been added to my writing foundation. Or, at least I'm aware of where I need to pop in another brick.

Which is why I've been reading up on some craft books that I've been meaning to get into. Chief among them thus far ha been Lisa Cron's Story Genius. The first half of her book delves into character creation, which I felt my own ability in could use some shoring up. Her recommended process has been eye opening to say the least. I've been following along with her exercises and I already have a more definite picture of who my protagonist will be when I start laying out this next book. The distraction has been welcome and productive.

With that, until next time, happy trails, good luck, etc. etc. etc. Oh, and wash your hands, please and thank you.