Monday, March 26, 2012

False Alarms

I've been having a lot of those lately. This past weekend I thought I was going into labor on at least three different occasions. Yes, this is my fourth baby. No, I still can't tell false labor from true labor. Every pregnancy is different, and so is the labor part of it. But I'm sure when it ACTUALLY happens, I'll know for sure.

I've also had quite a few false alarms with my finished manuscripts. You know that feeling you get after the first draft, the 'yes, I'm finally done!' one. Except then you realize there's this called editing, and you're not quite as done as you think you are. Then, after the editing you say 'phew, that was a little brutal, but at least it's over'. But then you remember you still need to get feedback from critique partners and betas, and it dawns on you just how wrong you are. After doing ALL of that, you think, 'yes, I can finally query!'. Well, have you written that query yet? And if you have, did you get outside opinions on it? So you go back and work on that little bump, smoothing it out to the best of your ability. Did you do all of that? Are you finally at the end of this very grueling and long process? Well, congrats, now you can start sending your baby out into the world. Everything would be sunshine and rainbows if it wasn't for that nagging feeling that you could make your story better. There's that one scene you never got quite right. You start itching to get back into your story and make it even more perfect, except there's no such thing as perfection when it comes your perception of your own writing.

It's incrediby frustrating, and we've learned that published authors often go through this cycle even AFTER their work is out in the world being read and judged by others. Sometimes you just have to step back and let things roll the way they are meant to. Now, if you're not getting the response you would like from agents, by all means go back and tweak your story here and there, work on making it better, but we have to distinguish between our own insecurities and the flaws in our writing. I've had plenty of false alarms, and I'm grateful to have realized that it's not just in my head, but I do need to work on my story. And now it's finally coming to the point where those false alarms are coming up less and less. Pretty soon the real deal is going happen, and the querying process will begin. For real this time. Scary, but true. I'm sure you're all in a similar boat, trying to figure out if it's time, or if another false alarm has struck. Wherever you may be in your journey, I hope you succeed.

10 comments:

  1. I love the way you tied the two together! I've experienced a few false alarms (or possibly a LOT) with both the ms and the baby. On my third, I called the hospital, feeling like a dork that I didn't know if it was real labor or not. Turns out it was.... even after I spent a while trying to convince the nurse that it wasn't. ;)

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  2. Ugh, I hate false alarms in writing! I always find something I want to change. Good luck!

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  3. I so hear you on the false alarm baby thing! Still not anywhere near the false alarm on my writing though so I am gonna get writing! Now!

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  4. I can't speak for having a baby, but the writing is definitely that way! It seems like there's always something else . . . but you're right, there's a different between personal insecurity and actual problems with the story.

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  5. I don't have any children but I totally feel you on the writing :) Unless my book counts as my baby...which I think it totally does. Good luck.

    demitrialunetta.blogspot.com

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  6. Love the comparison between pregnancy and writing. I didn't have any false alarms during my pregnancy, but it happens a lot when I'm writing.

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  7. I shudder to think of the manuscript I first sent out in my foray into the query process. Too weak to survive, I'm afraid. But it's had time to grow and mature and will be kicked out of the nest some time soon.

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  8. Oh, and good luck with that baby! labor is never fun, but the reward of the baby is worth it!

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  9. ...I think I've got the opposite problem. Because I expect there to be problems I lose traction and get all muddled up when things go too smoothly.

    Carrying your metaphor over, it would be like assuming it's false labour then having the kid on your living room couch ;)

    ...not that that's ever happened, just sayin' ;)

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  10. I swore I was going to drop my son right at the grocery store checkout counter - false alarm. I actually love the "ah ha" moments when a redirection of your story hits you on the head.

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