The most common comment/advice I see after someone has submitted something somewhere is to keep writing, focus on the writing, ignore the wait—write!
And, of course, this is true and valuable advice. If you sat around waiting and didn’t write (especially if you’ve submitted to a publisher that can take up to six months to get back to you on a partial), you would have a pretty paltry stack of writing. When you wait, you must write. To take your mind off of it, to fill the void, to get better, etc. etc. etc.
BUT…
Sometimes, I find the waiting stifling. Sometimes, I need… something besides just writing. I think I am at this point.
I have two submissions out. One I should be hearing back on any day, another that could take until May. I have four contest entries waiting to hear back on, one next week, one at the end of March, and one mid-April, and one not until May. As we speak, I am even waiting to hear back from my CP on my latest WIP chapter (although I JUST sent it, so I haven’t really been waiting on it).
Nevertheless, I am mired in waiting. I am drowning in waiting. And I know I should write. But I just feel stuck. I want to hear something. I want to know something. I want something to kick me in the butt. Whether that’s approval or rejection, I’m not sure it matters. Right now I’m just stuck with all the what-ifs, or wouldn’t-it-be-nices.
I want to be somewhere that necessitates action. I want some external motivators. I want, I want, I want…
Instead, I wait. And, I write.
Nicole Helm 