All Weather Writing

 

 By Maggie

I love snow, best these days when I can admire it from my window, and believe Christmas should be decorated in snow. This year it came on the Eve, magic and sparkly white. Making plans Christmas Day was a little tricky, however, deciding if picking up my granddaughter from my former daughter-in-law and continuing on to our son’s on Buckhorn Road was wise. Turns out it was, wise and wonderful.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, I thought about those who dream of a white Christmas, just like the ones they used to know, and thought how many of them were actually too young to shovel the stuff, much less drive around in it. But, the snow was beautiful and very right, the time with family, perfect. On Christmas Day, or whichever holiday you and loved ones cherish this time of year, working to prepare, shopping tribulations, and weather hassles are gone, leaving only the happy faces of those you gave exactly what they were looking for.

I see writing as very similar. The preparation of writing, editing, revising, revising, and revising can be as exhausting as shopping, wrapping, agonizing, and baking until one drops.

Shopping. You can go from one end of town to the other, encircle the WWW relentlessly in search of the very place that will have the right thing at the right time. Agents and editors do need us, too. Really. But, we often need to try many, many people and places before we get to the right one. I have to believe it will happen for me.

Sometimes you have to shovel your way through some pretty deep, um, snow to get on the road and on your way. Let’s be careful to not get frozen in a snow bank sized pile of rejections. Keep shoveling those submissions out there and on the way to where they need to go. I’m happy for anyone who found the publication process to be easy, but that’s not how it is for most of us. Remember, when those dark clouds of rejection block your sunny optimism, it’s not forever, but giving up on your dreams is.

I’m going into 2013 ready to keep trying to find the right place for my writing with hard work, steady search, dark clouds or sunny skies. And I hope you are, too. Won't it be fun to swap success stories?