Monday, May 18, 2009

Worth the Effort


Quote of the Day:
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. ~Samuel Johnson
You know, sometimes the effort involved in writing and querying makes me wonder if it is all worth it. Why do I let my house fall down around my ears, let my kids live off cereal for weeks at a time, and spend every spare second I have tormenting myself over a piece of drivel that will probably never see the inside of a bookstore? The simple answer...because I must :D

Yes, it is a pain sometimes. And yes, I should probably be on medication for the emotional roller coaster brought on by querying. But it is more rewarding then I can even begin to describe to take an idea and craft it into a 250+ page piece of art. I love getting the story down, sharing it with my friends, polishing and shaping it until it shines, and getting it ready for its trip to the agent's office.

And yes, though the waiting and rejections have caused more than one chocolate induced coma, I even enjoy the querying process. It is a rush to edit that query within an inch of its life and KNOW that it is going to hook every agent that reads it. Requests generate a high unlike no other and if I am ever lucky enough to get that Call...someone is going to have to revive me.

So, is it worth all the effort? Is it worth the late nights, the early mornings, the messy house, the husband's eye rolls, the stress and the binge eating and the ups and downs that only the publishing industry can cause? For me....YES. It is worth every ounce of blood, sweat and tears that go into everything I write.

How about you?



Happy Monday!

9 comments:

Don said...

So far, the journey itself has been worth the effort. Reading what I've written and not hating it. Getting positive feedback at critique group. Having one test reader draw up a piece of fan art - that was something special.

Hopefully publisher acceptance will be coming soon.

Unknown said...

I love your cats. They always make me laugh!

I love the old adage "Anything worth doing is worth doing well." It definitely applies to writing, editing and the entire process.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Yep, worth the effort. And the down-right heartache that it's causing me right now. I don't know why, but it's worth it. *sigh*

B.J. Anderson said...

Lol, I hear you on every part of this. My poor kids and all their cereal. ;) But in the end, I think I'd go more nuts if I didn't write, so it's worth it. Fun post, thanks!

Danyelle L. said...

Trying to convince myself that yes, it is worth it. Actually, self is convinced, it's just that pesky conscious part of me that needs convincing. >.<

Elana Johnson said...

I'm in the "trying to convince myself" category right now. I don't mind the querying, the requests are awesome. But the rejections? Man, those are hard, especially when I don't feel like there's anything useful I can take from them. It's just one person's opinion. So subjective. So I'm trying to convince myself, that yeah, this might be worth it. Maybe.

Andrew Rosenberg said...

I feel like a character in a poorly written manuscript during this process. When does the third act start? The part where out of nowhere an agent shows interest, and I must confront my fears and doubts and get my work into a publishable state?
I'm stuck in the second, where the challenges grow and I'm no closer to my goals.
BTW I love this captcha word: Zymatize. My brain is about to zymatize.

Crystal said...

Although it's been a while since I've queried (ok, years), do think it's well worth the effort, because sometimes the feedback on rejections can be very helpful and encouraging.

Anonymous said...

Is it worth it? Hmm...depends on the day :D..Okay, seriously, yes. It is definitely worth it. For all of the same reasons you mentioned!

Nice post.