Day 28: Waiting, TV and Homework

Loving the Gilmore Girls right now. Great source of stress relief.

Confession time: So I finally decided to query Writers House, and two weeks ago, I got a full manuscript request. It's been two weeks currently, and so far, I've heard nothing from them. Querytracker tells me that most people hear within 2 weeks, or if not, get either "revise and resubmit" or "so close but reject because the assistant quit on me".

I was pleased until five minutes ago, when I realized that they could have very well not received my email in the first place. My email was malfunctioning that day, I remember, as when I clicked "Save Draft" it told me "Message sent" (cue lots of screaming and cursing).

I really want Writers House, but I don't want to think about it anymore... Must watch more Gilmore Girls

Material Status:

Partial 1: 7 weeks (will nudge in 8 weeks)

Partial 2: 18 day

Partial 3: 9 days

Partial 4: 9 days

Partial 5: 4 days

Partial 6: 4 days

Full 1: 17 days

Full 2: 14 days

Full 3: 6 days

Full 4: 5 day

Day 22: Tracking stats...

I'm currently procrastinating instead of studying for my chem final. Justine's blog gave me this idea.

Book: SftOS - 4 pieces of material out/ suppose to be out?

Partial 1: 5 weeks?

Partial 2: 1 day

Partial 3: ... hasn't sent out yet. (No stamps ._.)

Full 1: 1 day

Everything else usually came back in 1-3 weeks ._.

---

Dear Santa Claus,

This year for Christmas, I'd like an agent and a .5 GPA boost.

Sincerely,

Blanche

Day 20: Queries here, Queries there

More emails finally coming back... still none of the ones with pages. I've decided to send out more queries since I'm stuck in the computer lab for a while.

So after blogging yesterday, my computer charger decided that it hates me and snapped itself in two. As a result, that partial I was suppose to send Nathan yesterday got delayed until tomorrow, because that's when the replacement charger's coming.

Status

Queries sent: 35
Query Rejections: 10
Material Requests: 7
Waiting on: 18

Day 16: Kind of quiet...

Nothing happen anymore. I haven't gotten a e-mail from anyone for a week. Maybe I should have sent out a "query only" query last week so that I'd have some kind of news this week...

In the meantime, I've had more people on my floor edit my book. A sort of "experiment", if you will. I sat four of my friends down and asked them to read my novel to the point where they get bored. The results were very interesting.

A (boy): Chapter 2 midway, went to play Starcraft

B (boy): Chapter 3, started homework

C (girl): Chapter 5, had to go to class

D (girl): Chapter 20, it was 2 am in the morning...

They also gave me some helpful feedback, so it's back to editing. I think I've read my own novel enough times that I've memorized the first 5 chapters...

I wonder if there's such a thing as "over-editing"? While personally I can live with the quality and progression of my novel, I can't help but think that it can always be improved. Words rephrased, humor redone, dialog rewritten to give the character the extra flair that we value in interesting people.

Or it could just be 5-am in the morning thinking...

Day 15: More queries

So I couldn't resist sending out two more queries, one of them being to another agent at CB (Nathan's agency, but not to Nathan. I'm building up courage to querying him...) I hope their policy isn't "no from one means no from everyone".

Still editing book... no matter how many times I do it, something can always be improved

Day 10: Start of New Manuscript

While working on my other manuscript, I wrote detailed outlines for the rest of the series (4 books in total, follows concept not characters).
Yesterday I realized how much I hated waiting, so I started another book. I got about 13k words in before the day was over, and about 1/8th of the way through. Moving a bit fast, but I'll go back and edit later.
Today I realized I still hate waiting, and have decided to send out more queries. One of my friends asked me why I wanted to publish a book so much, and it got me thinking. I don't know if it's the right way to go about it, but I want to go to graduate school not as another statistic, but as something different, like Tiramisu at a cake-baking contest. Not the most moist or the sweetest, but still good.
In a way, I think it's okay to be both literary and scientific. It doesn't have to be an "either or" like the university has designed it to be. It doesn't have to be a contest. Why can't people diagnose patients during the day and paint a picture at night? Society preaches specialization because it's efficient, but not for the individual. Because personal happiness is less useful than group progress. To the individual, his happiness is worth X amount, but to everyone else, it's worth less. Just as having a hot date is good for those involved, but worthless to bystanders. Social progress benefits everyone, which then leads to the work of others benefiting the self.
By this logic, people are naturally selfish.
Money. What good is a pile of money if the only thing you do during the day is watch TV? Anyone can do that. Anyone can enjoy life. So what good is that money?
Freedom; that's the only I can think of that's useful. To buy what you want, to have access to resources, to alleviate boredom. That's the point of money. People constantly worry about being bored. And yet, if we learn to entertain ourselves with our minds, then all of that is worthless. Someone who can dream is happier than someone who buys dreams, each lasting only for a moment.

I need to keep editing my manuscripts... Manuscripts; the word still sounds funny.

Day 9: More Queries and Silence

No replies so far, so I sent out two more queries. More waiting.

I finally got tired of waiting, so I started another book. The more I write, the more I realize that reading is crucial. Many of my female friends are avid readers, and they seem to be able to hold an intelligent conversation. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the guys. I'm normally not a feminist, but a few (not all) are starting to make me feel I should be one. The average conversation topic ranges from the type of girl they wish to "do" (blonde, thin, buxom, ect...) to why the rest of us are not improving ourselves.
I would rather not comment on a person's outer appearance past "pretty" and "plain", but at one point, I felt like pointing out that as "unappealing" as "the rest of us" are, they themselves could a) use a shower, b) use a shave, and c) hit the gym. Or at least try not to fail out of school. Again, this goes back to entitlement. I'm afraid, in twenty years, I will find my old college buddies in their midlife crisis, without hair or a job, whining about their shrew of a wife. Does common sense no longer exist?

As a side note: one of them, after I asked him to "at least not show up screaming drunk while everyone else is working," pointed out that I, along with the rest of the literary world, are "so snobby. I mean, you guys sit in bookstores and read for fun." What do I say to that?