I thought I wanted an easy life. I thought I wanted to do nothing more than sit at my computer and write. So I did. After a while, however, I became aware of a slight disatisfaction. A feeling that grew more acute as the time went on. I was checking my e mails and coming away disappointed, I was on edge, missing something. Then I realized what it was. There were no stories, no books, no plays out there. No agent, publisher or editor was scrutinising my offering and deciding whether to accept or reject. I hadn't anything to look forward to. Admittedly it might be a rejection, but on the other hand it might just be the golden moment when it seems that at long last my dreams of success out there in the mainstream were going to come true.
The time has come therefore to face up to my addiction and get another fix. "House of Shadows" will be winging its way to another agent tomorrow. More of "Dark Angel" will be up on Wattpad and I'll be looking at my cache of short stories to see what needs to be tweaked before going out.
Then I'll start feeling slightly nervous every time I check my e mails. There will be a feeling of anticipation each morning that maybe, just maybe today will be the day.
This is how I deal with my need. I'd be interested to hear what other writers do.
I too check my email with anticipation. Last week I pitched 6 articles and have recorded each on my laptop calendar. (I use Vu Minder lite) Each pitch is then colour coded pale blue for initial pitch date.2 weeks later the calendar pops up with a pink reminder to contact the editor again and chase, if it's rejected it gets stored with a purple tag. If it's under discussion and is a new editor it gets flagged as red, high priority meaning, Barry keep an eye on this and if it's flagged green it's an editor I've written for before so is a lower priority which means, Barry no need to stalk this one for the job :-)
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