Hi all
It's with a heavy heart that I come to you to report on the fate of my query for my MG fantasy novel, Oliver and the Underlings. See, I did it again. I sent another version of the query to Evil Editor, and, well... here, see for yourself:
http://evileditor.blogspot.com/2015/10/feedback-request_9.html
It's times like these where I question why I'm doing this writing thing, and my sanity. Instead of making progress, I appear to be going backward.
I've had people ask me why I just don't work on another project and put the current ones - Oliver an the Underlings and The Vanilla Wafer Chronicles - aside. To answer that question, let me provide a glimpse into my writing schedule:
Sunday - no writing time
Monday through Friday - 1 hour per day available to write
Saturday - no writing time
In that one hour per day that I have to write, I have to decide the following:
- Do I work on something new?
- Do I work on an existing project?
- Do I critique something that I've promised to someone else?
- Do I write a blog post such as this one?
- Do I write a book review?
- Do I read?
- Do I take care of some other personal business that needs taking care of?
- Do I do none of the above and go out for a walk or something?
Thinking about this logically, the best course of action would be to get the existing projects to a point where they're viable for publication. The rest of the options seem either insurmountable or activities that, while all necessary, noble, and/or enjoyable, take me away from my own writing.
In addition, and with all logic aside, I have a passion for these finished books. I feel there IS something important there, even if no one else can see it because I can't seem to convey that effectively to others.
If there's anyone out there reading this blog, do you struggle with any of these issues? Are you restricted with the time you have to write? How do you decide what to do during the times you sit down at your desk? Do you finish current projects first before starting something new? What do you do when a query is just not hitting any marks? Is there somewhere you go to for help? Do you shelf it and start something else?
Feel free to chime in with any advice in the comments.
