It seems like every year these last few I come upon the question again: Am I ever going to do anything more with my writing than let it continue to sit in files on my computer, never to be seen by anyone’s eyes but my own? Last year the question was prompted by meeting another romance writer at Starbucks and learning that she belonged to the Indiana chapter of RWA. That meeting, and some conversation that we had, had me thinking and considering, and remembering some not very happy times as a member of that organization. I never did go to a chapter meeting with her, and have now lost touch with her completely. This year the question is a little bit closer to home. I have some writer friends whom I met via NaNoWriMo and have known for several years now. We met at Starbucks today and talked, and the topic of submitting came up. I’d actually been toying with the idea for a few weeks, just sort of back in the back of my mind. I’m going to be 42 this year and I’m just starting to think that…what do I have to lose? (There’s still a voice in the back of my head that insists A LOT!) Really, nothing. I keep telling myself that no editor or agent is going to waste a great deal of his or her time tearing apart a story that they don’t like. So really, the worst that can happen is that I get a form rejection to a submission. What is really so bad about that? People get them all the time. They’re almost a badge of honor. And at least I’d be doing something. And yet…I’m terrified. Why?
It’s strange to me that I can do the music, but I can’t do the writing. And I’m probably a better writer than I am a musician. But it wasn’t always easy, and the music has gotten better and easier with positive feedback that I’ve gotten because I’ve been trying.
The thing is, I have tried with the writing, and I’ve been hurt. Granted, it was a long time ago, and what I’m writing now is very different than what I was writing then. I think that I’ve grown and changed, I think my writing is more mature. But I don’t know, and that’s what scares me.
So this is a big dilemma in my head now. I just registered on Duotrope and actually found a few publishers that I could submit to. I did a Google search for romance agents and found a long list of possibilities. Could it really hurt anything to try? Just to try? Query letters frankly terrify me, as do synopses. But still…it would be good to try. If nothing else, I can call myself a working writer trying to get published, as well as a working musician. And then next year I won’t be faced with this question once again…
