As Tom Petty says, “Waiting is the hardest part.” I’m not great at waiting, and some obsessive tendencies lead me to check my email every few minutes to see if a reply from an agent on a submission has come in. Spoiler alert: they haven’t.
When you’re querying, I don’t think anything is as excruciating as waiting to hear back on a query a partial request a full request. My theory is that it’s so hard to wait when you’re trying to find an agent because there is nothing you can actually do.
Setting goals and deadlines helps to soothe my type-a soul. As I work toward a specific goal (X number of words or pages revised), I feel like I’m making progress–even if they’re small steps. This sense of control over my situation creates a warm blanket of security in a highly subjective industry. In the query trenches, there is no such comfort.
I know a lot of writers feel this strain. I also know that, if I were to get an agent, there is only more waiting in my future when it’s time to go out on submission. Since I’ve not been down that road (yet!), I can’t speak to how that feels. I only know where I’m at, and where I am right now is staring at my inbox. Hitting refresh.
Any ideas to make the waiting easier? I’ve been distracting myself with a new project, and so far that’s been the only thing to keep my attention away from my gmail.
Katherine Laurin 