Insecure Writer’s Support Group, October 2020

So I’ve joined this group of insecure writers … I’m feeling a bit insecure myself since I can’t seem to find an agent interested enough in the novel to even request a full manuscript. It wouldn’t be so bad if they actually read the thing, then decided they didn’t like it enough to represent it. I tried getting an analysis of my query letter but the agent who was doing the “Slushpile” webinar didn’t handle sci-fi and he got so weirded out by my premise that he never actually said whether or not the letter was effective. He just said science fiction is very hard to sell and I’d have to find a particular agent who represented that sort of thing. I already knew that the market was saturated with mysteries and thrillers, thank you. We are a crime-focused, paranoid species lately.

I do have hopes I’ll make the cut for the annual anthology though. I sent in a story for “Dark Matter,” all about a velyr team and their little space opera adventures. I’ve also sent a story off to Asimov’s magazine and another contest. Hopefully I’ll get some nibbles, if not actual payment. I’m not as insecure about the short stories – I know those sell if I can just find the right audience. Not that I’ve made a ton of money from shorts, but I do know I can write the damn things.

This month, I’m working on a story about masks for an anthology Kevin J. Anderson’s editing, and one about how ancient gods might be coping in the 21^st Century for Zombies Need Brains. They have three anthologies due by December 31, so I’m hoping to have a story in each. This is on top of my usual Patreon story every month, and the 12-Stories-in-12-Months Challenge I signed up for. Lots of short stories … I need to take a bit of time and re-evaluate the novel sometime, too, to see if I can figure out what those agents aren’t liking. Maybe if I can sell something, my insecurity will back off a bit.

October 7 question – When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like? 

I believe a working writer is one who has the discipline to write no matter what’s going on around them. If you have a day job, you get up early or stay up late and get the word count in. If you’re “retired,” you put in the writing hours for that word count even if you’d rather be out fishing or drinking coffee. I see myself as a working writer because I do put in the time, even if I’m working that day. On my days off, I do most of my creative writing, but even on a 12-hour day, I manage to put in the social media posts that go along with my career. Being a working writer means you make time to write, not wait for inspiration or “free time” (because there isn’t any such thing).

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