Out of sight...

Writers hate waiting. We can't stand it. After we submit something, we want to know RIGHT AWAY if it gets accepted or if it's just what was asked for.

I've blogged before about how the waiting is practically unbearable. I will spare you a repeat.

This time 'round, though, I've noticed that it's actually a REALLY good thing I've been so busy with the writing work. I've told my sister how staying busy on the weekends helps me to keep my mind off my daughter not being here (she spends every weekend with her dad). But staying busy, period, is a good thing, especially if you have just submitted a manuscript.

With me, it's the collection of love poems I sent to the publisher. At first, I kept checking my email to see if I got a response. But after a few days of no reply, I knew I had to focus my energy on OTHER things. Just, not freaking out about "what if he rejects it?" or "what if it's so terrible, he warns every other publisher in the world about me??" So, I put my energy into the writing.

Of course, running the home, homeschooling my daughter and parenting keep me pretty darn occupied. But the writing is my passion. This is what drives me every day, the thing that could make or break me. Being a success as a writer is VERY important to me, so it would follow that keeping at the writing work could help me stay too preoccupied to worry about a manuscript I just submitted. And what a load of writing work I've had! If I wasn't working on my SIGNews story, I was doing Skyline stuff, researching for my Shadowlands article and working on my OTHER books.

I'm not going to go over the manuscript "one last time," though. The rule is, once I submit it, it's "out of sight, out of mind." Despite this darn WAITING!! Ugh. But, at least other writing work can help me to follow that "out of mind" part.