Summer Updates

July 1, 2024 ~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

Querying: I still don’t have a lot of data from round 2. I’ve only received 1 response (a form rejection) out of 8 queries, and it’s been 10 weeks. I’ve heard from a lot of sources that the publishing industry slows down during the summer months, and maybe I just happened to choose agents with slower response times (or with “no response means no” philosophies). Regardless, I got back at it this week with two new queries. I think sending one or two every few weeks as I’m able will be more sustainable at this point than grouping them into larger rounds. And for now I’ll just keep trying!

Health: I fell while running and broke my elbow a few weeks ago. Which sounds dire, I know, but it’s just a hairline fracture and I only needed to wear a cast/splint for about a week. At three weeks out I already have almost my full range of motion back, and it only hurts when I move my arm wrong or forget to be careful with it. I’m actually back to running and signed up for the Beach to Beacon 10k in August. B2B was the first race I ever did, so it seems fitting as the first race I run in five years—hopefully. If nothing else goes wrong.

Right after falling I said, “It’s okay, I didn’t hit my head!” But I did hit the ground with enough force to fracture a bone, and I think my brain got a teensy bit of whiplash. At any rate, I’ve been having headaches with screentime. Not as bad as my last concussion, and I seem to be okay when I’m driving and up and about doing things, but it’s making work more taxing than usual and I’m trying to avoid screens in my downtime. You may note that drafting a new writing project tends to be a screen-heavy activity. Sooo…

Making New Art: …I’ve been writing longhand! I’m trying very hard to not get excited since everything I’ve started recently has fizzled out before it began—but I do think writing on paper helps circumvent some of the overthinking that’s been getting in the way of my creativity. And I got to buy a new notebook, so, you know, can’t complain.

I also finally did some painting while on vacation in June! I’m hoping to paint some more during this week’s 4-day holiday weekend. See my 3 paintings from the other week below. I focused on getting back into things rather than meeting any particular artistic goals, but they do make me happy.

January 2024 – A Whole New Year

January 2, 2024 ~ Grace ~ 1 Comment

2023 was a banner year for me. I still can’t believe that I wrote an entire novel in four months! And that I’ve stuck with it through revisions, feedback, and endless query/synopsis drafts. I am wildly grateful to the alchemy of inspiration, obsession, and terror that has gotten me this far.

Last week, I started listening to the podcast The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. I’ve found the query/first pages critiques at the beginning of each episode to be very educational, and it is so interesting to hear about the guest authors’ various journeys to publication. Yesterday I listened to the 11/9/23 episode, “Encouragement from NYT Bestselling Author, Jean Kwok,” and I found the interview with Kwok incredibly inspiring. She spoke about her debut novel’s initial rejection and eventual success, and she also spoke about fear, and doing the scary things anyway. This resonated—I’ve noticed that when I write about writing I am almost always writing about fear. She also spoke about her determination following the first rejection to continue submitting her manuscript, and collecting rejections, for as long as it takes. Every episode of the podcast closes with the host, Bianca Marais, saying, “Keep at it. Remember, it just takes one ‘Yes.’”

I’m dedicating the first few weeks of January to more novel revisions and query/synopsis edits, and I am deadly determined to submit my novel to an initial round of literary agents before my 35th birthday in February. My New Year’s Intention is to actively query agents on a rolling basis for the entire calendar year of 2024. And obviously I would hope to reassess and keep trying into 2025 and beyond, with this book and with future projects, for as long it takes. But “as long as it takes” is an ethereal measure of time, while “a year” is solid, definite, and a good place to start. And if I plan for a year, then those first few rejections, or non-responses, are all part of the plan. Right? At the very least, I am determined to stop telling myself “No” by not even asking for a “Yes.”

Yes, we still have our Christmas tree up.

Day 25: Winning

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 ~ Grace ~ Leave a comment

Yeah that’s right, I won early! I reached 50,000 words this Sunday afternoon, more than a week before the end of November. This is a first, for me. Here’s what my progress graph looked like on Sunday:

I love these graphs, by the way. If I could add any feature to the NaNoWriMo website, it would be the ability to compare graphs side-by-side, or spliced on top of each other. You could compare your current year’s progress to every other year you’ve participated, or you could compare your own graph to any of your writing buddies’. I think that would be neat.

I didn’t stop writing, by the way. I’m now trying to reach a new goal of 70,000 before the end of November. Wanna see another graph? ‘Cause I sure do. Here’s where I am today:

Screen Shot 2015-11-25 at 3.39.05 PM — See how the bars are *above* the goal line?

Current word count is 55,483, and I’m still lagging about a thousand behind where I want to be for today.

Every single person writes differently, but here’s how I made my win happen:

It started with travel plans for the weekend. I thought I would be away on the 21st and 22nd, and I didn’t know if I’d find the time to write. Starting on Monday of last week, I made it my mission to get as far ahead as possible before the weekend hit. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, I have time to write at the end of my workday before it’s time to go home, of which I took full advantage. It was nice. And so the following few days, when I taught right to the end of the school day, I did the same thing. I stayed late at my desk as long as I could, and typed until I had met my word count. Then I cancelled my travel plans at the last minute, and I was already so far ahead and on a role that I said, hang on, I think I can get to 50,000 by Sunday. And so I did.

My new goal, 70,000, will bring me a lot closer to the end of the story than 50,000. I’ve written this story completely linearly so far; it starts at the beginning and follows a plot and there are no missing pieces or pieces that obviously don’t belong. This is unusual for me, and after the current mess of my dragon book I find it relaxing. Even if I don’t make 70,000 this month, or if the story still isn’t done at 70,000, I want to keep writing until I find the end.

Cheers!