Now the Journey Really Begins

I am sending out my first query letters.  THIS.  WEEK.

This is the first step in the journey of turning my passion into my profession.  Where I start sending my words out into the world and inviting people (beyond my loving husband and band of trusted critique ladies) to enter the worlds that I’ve created on the page.  I’ve spent the past few years being writer, editor, reviewer, and reviser of my words, switching one hat for the next in an endless exchange.  I cannot thank those who’ve had eyes on my words and given me honest and genuine feedback enough for helping me see the holes and set the scissors to the various versions of my manuscripts thus far.  I appreciate it immensely.  It has gotten me to this point, to the place on the path where I choose to veer out of the woods and into the bustling of the publishing world.

This week was spent combing over every sentence and every word in my query letters.  It was also spent reading and rereading the first chapter of SB.  It’s a funny thing, that place where I change the way a sentence is written and then decide no it sounds more authentic to the story another way and then read it again to find the way I’ve rewritten it is closer to how I wrote it in the first place.  The expansion and growth of a story from concept to first draft to revised draft never ceases to impress me.  It’s another path of discovery I love about finding the worlds in my stories: I never know where they will take me until I realize I’ve already written the way to get there.

The coming weeks will be a learning curve in this new journey of querying while simultaneously beginning the journey of getting ready for NaNoWriMo 2019!  Once I’ve sent out those query letters, I’m going to completely open myself to story possibilities for NaNoWriMo.  I’ve had an idea here and there try to catch my attention, but I’ve shut my brain to really contemplating them until I’ve had this goal completed.  Now, though I will still be looking and thinking about SB, it will be easier to set it aside.  I’m toying with the idea of doing some story starters or other writing exercises to figure out the story I will draft in November.  Last year, I had a general idea of the sub-genre I wanted to write in, but this year I haven’t been able to decide.  I’m excited to start the pre-planning process, and to share it all with you.

Are you thinking about taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge this year?  Is there a specific thing you do to open yourself up to story ideas?  As in, certain writing exercises you do?

Happy Writing!