It takes guts to write the book, ask people to read the book, hear critiques about beloved book, revise the book - like a zillion times, edit the book, research agents to query the book, write query letter (aka beloved book effectively shrunk down into two or three teeny tiny paragraphs), put query letter out there, hear critiques about query letter, revise query letter - like a zillion times, finally get enough courage to send query letter out to researched agents, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, each chocolate, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, cry, wait, wait, wait, talk incessantly about getting published, wait, wait, wait, wait, check email as if you suffer from worst case of OCD, wait, wait, wait, wait, send a few more queries out because you're tired of waiting, get some requests, dance/jump/scream/dream, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, get some rejections, cry/doubt self/re-read book and convince self it's complete crap, wait, wait,wait, wait, wait, continue checking email - considering talking to psychologist for this obsession, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, read fellow writers' blogs - everyone is getting signed - selling books - you cry, wait, wait, wait, write another book, start whole process over again.
My guts hurt just reading that. I know a lot of you feel the same.
Well, you know I like to laugh. And I have a pretty cool story to share, a courageous story. See, my sister Nikole has a dear friend named, Jennifer. Jennifer had found a great guy, fell in love, got engaged and then some little tid-bits of info made that all go away. For one, he was still married, as in still living with his family. Two, he was a compulsive liar.
What did Jennifer do? Did she shrink into the black hole of despair? Hell no. She took a comedy class and just debuted at a Philly comedy club on Friday night. To me, that's courage at it's finest. Go get 'em Jennifer. p.s. if the video below doesn't cooperate, click on this post's title and it'll take you directly to the youtube posting. Enjoy.
13 comments:
Great story! And you know I feel your pain. High five right back at you.
I like high-5.
And that's a great story, too.
LW: Some day, we'll laugh at these dreaded query days!
Bryan: Welcome!! Hope you stop by again.
Oh, she's cute and funny! That takes so many guts. I say GOOD FOR HER! That's so awesome. Thank you for this. It makes me feel better for the times I get down. :)
Awesome story! Sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh!
Wow! I have to admit something: I kind of expected her to suck. I still would have been impressed as bleep, because it takes so much nerve to get up on a stage like that, but the debut comedians almost always suck.
But she did NOT suck. She was really funny! I actually teared up, I laughed so hard. How awesome is that!!!
Lady G: I know, it is inspiring. Even though I have no fear talking in front of people (the teacher in me) I could NEVER perform stand up. I'd never remember what I planned to say. She rocked.
Lisa & Laura: She has a great attitude about it, that's for sure.
Carrie: Coming from you, oh funny one, that is a compliment.
I have to tell her to check out the comments here - they'll make her smile.
That IS courage at its finest. :)
Amen. Writing is difficult! We work hard and then immediately open ourselves up to rejection. But every little step on this journey...what a high! Mmmm.
-Mercedes
Mercedes: Welcome and thanks for stopping by my blog. The good parts of the journey towards publication are sooooo good aren't they? And the lows are hideous.
But you know what, without the lows...the rejection...those highs would never feel as good.
High five right back at yah and great story about turning tragedy into comedy. It's a gold mine.
Patti: Glad you enjoyed her story. Nice to 'see' you 'round these parts...again :)
Jennifer is awesome! Wow, she has guts, that girl, and kudos to her for not letting it get her down.
So maybe we are all good candidates for comedy class and talk about our novel processes?? :-)
Pink: Jennifer IS awesome!! I have this grand dream that one day I'll be the keynote speaker at the national SCBWI conference in NYC and I'll write the funniest keynote speech in the history of keynote speeches. Yeah, I'm a big dreamer.
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