Waiting is the hardest part
George R.R. Martin might disagree, but writing is not the hardest part about being an author. What we put on the page, especially in early drafts, is really the only thing we authors really have any semblance of control over. While drafting, I’m the captain now.
The hardest part for me is the waiting. I’m not a patient person. For a writer, waiting is in the job description. From agent querying onward, we’re constantly waiting for emails that could make or break our day—from manuscript requests to submissions to editorial letters to royalty statements.
Waiting stinks, but it’s what we writers have signed on for, so we’d better learn to deal with it.
Here’s how I, a professional, handle the waiting.
I write.
This is the ideal. Writing, like I said, is the only part I have control over. Writing is productive. Writing means I’m taking control of my destiny, that no matter what happens, I’ll be ready with a brand spanking new and obviously brilliant manuscript.
I startle.
This happens every time I get a buzz on my watch with a new email. It’s usually just Publisher’s Weekly, full of good news for other people.
I eat.
Because comfort.
I work out.
Because food is my comfort.
I startle again.
I eat some more.
I sit down to write.
I get distracted by breaking news.
I get one more email.
It’s my newsletter service telling me I’ve lost three subscribers.
I eat again.
I go to bed.
Check out Julie’s newest release, Approximately Yours, out now!
Danny Garland is so out of Holly’s league. And her family is only back in North Pole, Minnesota, long enough to sell Grandma’s house and say “Merry Christmas.” So telling her basketball-star, too-hot-to-be-real long-time crush that she’d like to kiss him under the mistletoe just isn’t going to happen.
And now he’s asked out her cousin, Elda. Elda is a mess at flirting, so when she begs Holly to intervene, she does. Holly helps her flirt with him over text. And then again. And again. Now she’s stuck texting him as her cousin, and Elda is the one going on the date. Holly thought she could settle for just conversation with Danny, but talking with him is some kind of magic. He’s got the perfect comebacks, she makes him laugh, they text until everyone is asleep.
She just can’t ever tell him it’s her he’s really texting.
Julie Hammerle is the author of The Sound of Us, which will be published by Entangled Teen on June 7, 2016. Before settling down to write “for real,” she studied opera, taught Latin, and held her real estate license for one hot minute. Currently, she writes about TV on her blog Hammervision, ropes people into conversations about Game of Thrones, and makes excuses to avoid the gym. Her favorite YA-centric TV shows include 90210 (original spice), Felicity, and Freaks and Geeks. Her iPod reads like a 1997 Lilith Fair set list. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two kids, and a dog. They named the dog Indiana.
About Author
Leave a Reply