Writing and Waiting - what do you do?

While I am waiting for word on a book out at publishers, I've done what most everyone advises - start another one.

I've started it. Barely.

I have about six chapters outlined, more or less, though when I write I find that I tend to add in different details or even ignore the outline as I go along.

Never gone is the specter of that "other" book, languishing on some slush pile or maybe sitting, forlorn, on some editor's desk. So I hope.

It's hard to forget something you've worked so hard on. Hard to get over it and go on to something else that easily, though I am trying.

So, what do you do when you are between books? Besides clean the fridge, eat or???

Waiting

I've been waiting for over two months for about four buds to flower on a plant in my kitchen, which hasn't bloomed in a few years. My waiting started when I first noticed something small was forming in one spot instead of just new leaves. After investigating, I found more of the same happening.

The buds are getting larger and I can see a small bit of the flowers, as you can tell from the photo on the left. Still, I can't see the entire flowers. I can hardly wait to see what they'll look like.

How does this relate to writing?
A good book will keep the reader waiting and guessing what will happen next.  A good author will not spill the beans too soon, but string the reader along to find out how the character(s) will get out of predicaments and hopefully live happy and fulfilled lives at the end of the book. In the case of a series, the author will need to take care to offer some sort of denouement at the end of each book, yet leave the reader curious about future books in the series.

In my debut mystery novel, Two Wrongs, the two main characters play a waiting game. For both, it's about how to exact revenge. When Danny's sister, Mary Alice, is murdered, he believes he knows who did it and testifies against Kevin. The fact that Kevin is sent to prison isn't enough. He wants Kevin dead for what he did to Mary Alice. Kevin has a very different waiting game, waiting to get out of prison, then planning his own sort of revenge.

What kind of waiting game is in your own book or someone else's that you like?



If you'd like to read Two Wrongs, a tale of vengeance and the healing power of love (yes, there is romance included) you can find it for 99 cents on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and other ereaders.

The Waiting Game by DL Larson

We're finally done playing the "waiting game" at our house. We were getting pretty good at it too while making ready for my daughter's wedding. We waited for bridal gowns to be shipped, we waited for tuxes, invitations, flowers and centerpieces. The list went on and on while we prepared for the big day. The many preparations reminded me of waiting for things to happen in my writing life. Once I ordered a particular item, my job was done. All I had to do was wait for it to arrive.

Does that sound familar when it comes to submitting our work to publishers and editors? Whether we send our material and inquiry through email or snail mail, our job is temporarily done. Or is it?

I learned to chart my submissions and then move on rather than gnawing on "what ifs." What if I said this rather than that, would someone sit up and take notice? What if I explained my plot a little differently, and before long I focused on another approach of querying my work. Not necessarily better, just different.

Then I realized what I was doing. I was filling time, wasting time when I could be working on my WIP, editing completed chapters, anything besides second guessing what I submitted to an agent.

I'm all for tweeking queries and getting the words just right, but in order to be productive with the time I have, I learned to do my obessing before I send a query, not after.

How about you? What have you learned to do while waiting for responses to agents and publishers?

Til next time ~

DL Larson
PS: I wanted to share a bit of our big day with you: This is Amber and Josh ... and the cake! :)