"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it." -- Bunker Hunt
So, I'm sitting at work today, minding my own business, sulking (if I'm being honest), when I open a planner I was given and BAM! this quote.
And?
First, I need to explain the sulking.
This week I participated in an online writing conference - WriteOnCon. I'm still looking at all of the posts (work doesn't make it easy). Anyway, I posted my query, my first 250 words, and my first 5 pages in the forum. Got some amazing feedback from other writers. But see, there were agents browsing. Man oh man did I want a little feedback from one of them. Anything. Even 'this sucks'.
Okay, not that.
But, much to my dismay, not only was I left without feedback, but my entire genre seemed to be skipped.
GAH!
Apparently, I have really awful timing. Dystopian just isn't the thing to try to sell right now. *sob*
So I'm pouting, sulking, maybe a little depressed. I've just spent a year (yes, A YEAR) writing, revising, editing, querying, contesting, and everything else I can think of to make this story what it needs to be. And...nothing.
This is where the quote comes in.
Yes, I was feeling a little sorry for myself. Yes, I was cursing the Ninja Agents a little. Yes, I was having my own brand of hissy fit.
And then I read these words: resolve to pay the price to get it.
Seriously?!
'Haven't I paid enough?' I ask myself. 'Isn't a year a lot? A lot of time at the computer. A lot of little notes everywhere. A lot of time I didn't spend with my kids.'
Before you reach through your computer and slap me, let me say that after I took a deep breath and gave myself a stern talking-to, I got it. Really got it.
One year is a lot, sure. But obviously, it's not enough. The price is higher.
That begs the question - am I willing to pay the price to get what I want (published)?
The answer: Yes.
I realized today that it's going to come down to me. I need to manage my time better. I need to define my priorities. I need to determine what I'm willing to give up and what I won't let go of.
I'm going to continue to query - even though I know I'm going to see a lot of rejections. That's just how it is. *sigh*
And I'm going to write. I've got a women's fiction story I'm working on, a sci-fi story I've outlined, a historical fiction story that I'm dying to write (based on my grandfather's adventures as a teen), and a few other ideas I'm still chewing on. Hell, I could even attack the non-fiction real crime book my brother wants to write with me.
I'm resolved.
And scared out of my mind. :)
