Writing a Novel Part XIX: The Waiting Game

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

I have to be honest with all of you and tell you that I feel kind of bad that this blog isn't quite as current as it used to be, but sadly that comes with the territory right now. Despite the fact that I'm making efforts to get published and snag myself an agent, we have entered an interesting place where all writers must eventually go...limbo. This is the dreaded waiting game that no one likes to play in the industry but one simply has no choice. After all, agents need time to read your work and make a decision and well, I thought I'd use today's blog as an opportunity to discuss where the book and a few other projects are currently at and what comes next while I keep one eye on my inbox for replies from agencies.

Now the good news is, I do indeed have a few query letters out in the market right now. I haven't done as well with my one-a-week goal that I was hoping to maintain but that's okay, progress is progress, and since I haven't had a chance to really do any teaching or informing in this blog for a while, what a great opportunity to explain why there is even a waiting game to begin with and I hinted at it a moment ago, agents need time. After all, there are a TON of new writers out there finishing their books everyday and hoping to get into the business just like me, which means agents are flooded on a daily basis with a massive amount of query letters. So many in fact I don't even want to guess at the number, which means it will sometimes takes weeks or months to even get back to you, and that's if they like what they see.

I also made mention of the fact that I have sent query letters to multiple agents and I'm sure that's confused some because a common misconception about this process is that you have to query one single agent at a time. That's simply not the case. To do so would slow down the process considerably and a vast majority of agents understand that you're searching for representation and allow your query to be in several places at the same time. Now does that make agents that don't support that bad and you should stay away from them? Absolutely not. If they're the right agent for your story and everything matches up and you're okay waiting to hear back...do it, the worst they are going to do is say no to you. So is that a ton of information? You bet, and I'm sorry if today featured a little bit of a download. But one of my goals with this blog was to educate those who are unfamiliar with any part of these processes because, there's a lot to know and any particular tidbit that can help someone be successful is worth writing about. 

With all of that going on behind the scenes, the question then remains, what the heck does a writer do with all the downtime? Well the answer to that is simple, to me at least...quiet time means it is time to get back to work. It's never a good thing to sit around and wait for something to come to you, and writers need to write so that's basically where I'm at right now; preparing to get back into the thick of it. The only conundrum that comes with that however...is the fact that I am loaded up with ideas right now and truly have no idea where to start. At this point, I've got ideas for about four new books, and since I have had time on my hands, I've already taken the time to plot each and every one of them out. Heck, I've even got a couple of ideas for a screenplay or two for that matter as well while I wait for a movie project to hopefully find financing. 

Or...there's even the possibility of getting back into the short story market. I have always loved the wonder of the short story and the precision that goes with putting them together, so it may be high time to bang out a few new ones and get them to market and dust off and polish the few that I found on my computer the other day. Either way, while the waiting game is indeed what you make it, the best thing to do is to keep busy rather than worry about things you cannot control and I am extremely excited to get back into the writing process and put together a brand new story. As for deciding which one goes first...the sequel to Fallen Angel; entitled Dawn of the Dead, is the first book that comes to mind, but who knows, I may just toy around and start several stories and see which one flows out of my fingertips with ease. Until next time.