Beating the Slump After the Pitch

Hey everyone! Welcome to my first post at NN. I'm excited to be here.

I wanted to talk about something that's foremost in my mind right now as far as writing goes. I just came from a conference where I presented my first pitch. To make a long (embarrassing) story short, I'll just mention that she asked for a partial.

Since I've sent the partial off to the agent, I've been trying to keep from dwelling on it. So if you're like me and you're relatively new to the idea of sending work to someone who actually wants to read it, not just names off the internet that you queried and are now praying for the best, then you might be concerned about how to keep your mind off of it and get back into your writing life.

I tend to be fidgety, which might account for some of my nervousness giving the pitch. I feel better if I've got something to do with my free time. Prior to this conference and the pitch, I took up walking, which allowed me to get exercise. You'd think I'd have lots of free time to think about the pitch or worry that I might mess it up, but the scenery (and concentrating on not tripping) keeps my mind occupied. Not only that, but it gave me an idea for my own blog. I now write a column called Stuff I Find While I'm Walking, which includes photos and background of the places where I walk.

Even if you can't get out to where the scenery is or come up with something to write based on what you know (or don't know) about writing, it's not a bad idea to keep a blog. You can document your daily routine or write about your childhood memories. Every sentence you jot down will a) keep you from pushing 'Check Inbox' a thousand times and b) possibly spark a new story. There are hundreds of ways to view each moment of your life. Just tack on a 'what-if'.

We're all busy cramming as many things into our day as possible. Some writers consider it a miracle that they find time to put BICHOK at all. Sure, there are lots of distractions readily available on the internet. Between social networking, laughing at pictures of cats wearing hats, and checking your e-mail on the off chance a legitimate agent has "discovered" you, it can be a bit much. I figure if you feel like the internet is your only possible way to pass the time, assuming you don't have kids or a significant other, you might as well dig in and get down to researching your next book.

I write steampunk romance that dabbles in the paranormal. I'm looking for something that's not vampiric, lupine, or Fae. I need folklore, legend and myths. Not only is the internet at my fingertips to provide me with these things, I have the added bonus of working at my local library as a cataloger. I get all the new books first and I can't count the number of paranormal non-fiction books passing from my desk to the shelves. I can manage a few minutes to flip through and find passages, pictures and facts I might otherwise miss if I don't get search terms right. Printed books and the net go hand in hand as far as I'm concerned for research.



If you need to get out of the office (your home office, don't try to tell your boss I gave you permission to take a break ;) ) or away from the keyboard for a while, one of the things I like doing best is hitting a movie. Especially lately will all the books-to-movies coming out, be they comic or traditional print. I'll sit in the nice cool theater and think that's not the way it happened or even if it is the way it happened, I might come up with an idea that could have changed the way the movie flowed. Or a more plausible ending for some movies. Not that I'm better than the script writers—heavens no!—but it keeps me thinking about the way I end a story or how I pull off a scene. If my manuscript went to the big screen, would the viewers buy it?

If you have other suggestions for getting back on track after a submission, I'd love to hear them!