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Entry tags:
Work and life
Hello all. It seems ages since I last posted, but I have been kind of busy and under pressure for a while. I haven't been keeping up with lj very well or commenting much, so I'm sorry about that. I did post about this under filter when it was happening, but to keep everyone up to speed I am newly made redundant, starting from last Tuesday. I've been feeling very strange and fuzzy since then, with a vague sense that I am missing a meeting or should be getting on with a report or, or something. I'm adjusting though, and it really helps that it was voluntary and I wanted to leave. My colleagues gave me a classy send off that involved a great deal of Pinot Grigio and they gave me some thoughtful presents.
Obviously, I now have all this free time. It suddenly feels like if I'm not careful I'll waste it and won't have enough, somehow. I could spend weeks simply puttering around the house doing all those things that we've put off for years. I could put all the things on ebay that I've been meaning to. I could go to the gym, I could hoover the stairs (they have dust shadows from the newly removed book piles because we have NEW SHELVES). I could do the garden, fill out my passport renewal form, go shopping for new furniture, make nutritious meals or buy things on the Internet. I'm confused. I have a to do list, which is helping.
Of course, there is the small issue of having to look for a new job. I have a lot of transferable skills so I'm hoping this won't be too hard but the way things are that the moment, who knows? I would love something that is less than full time, because I've been investigating setting up my own business. This is one of my dreams, even if at the moment it looks somewhat remote.
That other thing that's been tapping me on the shoulder is to finally sit down and write a novel for publication. It's odd how I feel embarrassed to admit that, as if somehow I am not allowed to write novels and try to get them published. It seems far too ambitious somehow. Perhaps I just grew up too British?
Maybe today, then, should look like this:
Get those stairs hoovered, you know you want to!
Go to the gym
Drink coffee drinks
Write
Don't maunder on about things, there's no point
That's a plan to be going on with, I think. How are you all?
Obviously, I now have all this free time. It suddenly feels like if I'm not careful I'll waste it and won't have enough, somehow. I could spend weeks simply puttering around the house doing all those things that we've put off for years. I could put all the things on ebay that I've been meaning to. I could go to the gym, I could hoover the stairs (they have dust shadows from the newly removed book piles because we have NEW SHELVES). I could do the garden, fill out my passport renewal form, go shopping for new furniture, make nutritious meals or buy things on the Internet. I'm confused. I have a to do list, which is helping.
Of course, there is the small issue of having to look for a new job. I have a lot of transferable skills so I'm hoping this won't be too hard but the way things are that the moment, who knows? I would love something that is less than full time, because I've been investigating setting up my own business. This is one of my dreams, even if at the moment it looks somewhat remote.
That other thing that's been tapping me on the shoulder is to finally sit down and write a novel for publication. It's odd how I feel embarrassed to admit that, as if somehow I am not allowed to write novels and try to get them published. It seems far too ambitious somehow. Perhaps I just grew up too British?
Maybe today, then, should look like this:
Get those stairs hoovered, you know you want to!
Go to the gym
Drink coffee drinks
Write
Don't maunder on about things, there's no point
That's a plan to be going on with, I think. How are you all?
no subject
Not gonna lie. Getting a manuscript ready for a publisher is hard work and the waiting to see if they want it or not is gnaw your fingers to the bone time. Rejection hurts, but just because one publisher didn't want it doesn't mean others won't. it may just be that your style or the genre of your story didn't fit with that publisher at that time.
Of course, it's more work when it is accepted as you need to go through rounds of editing (I'm kinda weird as I enjoyed that part). And there's nothing like the feeling of having a publisher say they wanna publish your book.
no subject
no subject
I would suggest you make good use of beta readers to help with any random plot holes/WTF moments you may not see (because you know what you meant in location X), and get/find a grammar/spelling nazi to help with the final polishing as you want it to be as close to sparklingshinyperfect as you can get it before submittal.
Of course, no matter how good you believe you have it, there will be edits. But, a publisher will be more willing to give your work a go if you present yourself (and your work) as professional and complete as possible.
And in the event of a rejection, the best advise I can give is something a fellow author told me. Send them a polite thank you email for taking the time to read your work and that you hope that in the future you can work with them on another project. Being polite and mature never hurts and they may remember that about you the next time you sub something to them again (which would be a plus for you).