On my whiteboard in my office, I’ve written, “One thing at a time. First things first. Start now.” Below that, in caps so that I won’t miss it, I’ve added, “BABY STEPS. JUST BEGIN.”
I came back to full-time work last week and pretty much the first thing I did, after finishing the two existing assignments on my desk, was to hunker down and send out as many query letters as I could in a two-day period.
I like to think of query letters—whether they’re to magazine and newspaper editors or agents—as seeds. You plant them, water them regularly, and let them be. And someday, hopefully soon, they grow into something beautiful, like an article assignment or a book contract.
It’s in that initial stage, when you’re sowing seeds based on dreams and goals and not much else, when it’s easy to get disheartened. It’s the time you’re doing the hardest work for no immediate reward when it feels like it’s all uphill and there’s no end in sight. I sent out 20+ queries last week and didn’t hear back on a single one. I spent the weekend frustrated because here I was trying to make a living, and working pretty damn hard to make it happen, and I was so dependent on other people for it. Then, on Monday evening, I received an offer from an editor that meets half my income goal for the month. A sprouting seed. A beauty of an assignment.
I’m in a similar situation with my nonfiction book proposal. My agent got some feedback from editors that we were thinking too small. We needed to make mine a bigger book. (Well, add more pages then, I wanted to say.) High concept, more readers, has potential, you know the drill. So my agent sent me back to the drawing board. My husband, a journalist and editor who acts as my first reader, has now sent me back two more times and I’m currently on my fourth rewrite of these sample chapters.
I’m sowing seeds, I know, but it can lead to a bit of disillusionment, this process of beginning and taking those hard first steps. You start to question your abilities, wonder if you’re even the right person for this job in the first place. I love that I am surrounded by people, both professionally and personally, who push me to be better than I think I can be, but when you sit in front of the blank page and the pressure to perform mounts, that page can go empty for a long time.
Hence the note to myself on my whiteboard to just begin. The first word, the first sentence, the first paragraph.
I created a successful freelancing career over ten years by sending one query letter at a time. Some of those queries led to assignments, which led to relationships with editors, which led to regular work. I need to build my book career in the same way, chapter by chapter, submission by submission. But to do so, I need to let go of the expectations and the pressure that sits heavy on my shoulder as I write, and just start putting words on the page.
One thing at a time. First things first. Start now.
Have you taken a baby step forward for your writing career today?