Focused

I’ve been playing around with a few short stories. I’m having a hard time getting motivated on them, though. After writing a 102k word novel, shorts feel like premature ejaculation—it’s okay, but I want more. I want to move forward with the next book in the series and focusing on anything other than my vision for this continuing crime saga is rough.

My issue is thoughts sometimes get muddled. I overthink things, overdo things—you know the drill. Getting hung up on the potential agent outcome will fuck with any writer’s head and send them on various mental escapades. 

Existential issues aside, I’m going to put my head down and work—on all fronts. Writers write, and that’s the gist. I’ll work on the short stories and notes for the next book. I enjoy the information gathering and thought process—brooding over such things keeps me centered. I dig the writing process too goddamn much. I’m not going to settle for the idea of being an author versus working hard to be one.

Query and Synopsis: Multiple Versions?

I started my query and synopsis long before my manuscript was completed. A rough process. You can research a hundred queries and as many synopses and still screw up your own. I figured waiting until my novel was absolutely complete would not be a smart move. I knew these two items were important. Each time I got bogged down in my writing, I’d switch to my query or synopsis for a bit. 

The first go-around, I tried hard to get the information in there. I figured agents need to know this shit, right? Then again, I also concluded that adding in more might come across as a lack of confidence. Agents are busy—long queries probably get nixed routinely. I could be wrong, but who the hell knows.

I wrote a couple of query and synopsis options: long, short, and varying word choices—every other agent wants something different. And it allows me to sound them out, seeing if one flows better than the other. At the very least, I’m not scrambling to start a document from scratch with each successive query. 

All of the above may be considered moot until I land an agent. But being prepared—giving it your all—is always the best course of action. It’s the only damn way I know how to do things.

Writing, Reading, Working Out

I’m a geek—more on that later.

The query process is ongoing. Slow going. I’m maintaining my writing schedule in the meantime, which is essential. Dig that old saying: do something, even if it’s wrong.

I’ve also started working out full-bore again. I always try to maintain my physical well-being but going all-in is different. I do it for my body and my brain—a hard workout can take your mind off things. It’s good for your soul. If more people did some sort of strenuous manual labor every day, we’d be happier overall. One doesn’t worry about crap when you’re balls deep in digging, lifting, or carrying. And when you’re in pain, the voices in your head stop screaming—a bonus to consider.

Currently reading: "Jackson Pollock: An American Saga”. This is a massive biography. I like Pollock’s art, even though I know jack about art. The person is more interesting to me—relatability, I suppose. I migrate toward biographies about men who struggle but never stop.

Listening to: American Pastoral by Philip Roth. Straight-up literature is rough for me at times. Overly long sentences and paragraphs. Overly wrought descriptions. In other words, it takes a long time to get to the point. I’m enjoying this listen—an ultimately deep dive into having and then losing everything. I have an omnibus of Roth’s work but could never get past a few pages. Somehow, the audiobook makes it feasible—and makes me want to read the words.