Well, I did it, folks. I sent out my first three
novel queries to agents yesterday. It was nerve-wracking, but I needed to bust
through the fear and the only way to do that was to just take the plunge. I
also posted my boiler-plate query letter on Absolute Write’s “Query Letter
Hell” feedback forum, where it was instantly torn to shreds. Like the novel
summary, writing a query letter is a total nightmare. It’s almost impossible to
figure out what to include and what to leave out, and how to make it come
together coherently in less than a page. I chalked up my first three queries to
test runs, and I plan to re-work the letter based on the feedback I got from the
AW site. So if you see me crouched in a corner, sobbing and clutching fistfuls
of my own hair, you’ll know why.
Transitions are an interesting thing. I’m in the
middle of a big one right now, and it has felt very intense. Never one to think
of myself as anyone remotely impactful or influential, I now realize that I
have indeed had an impact on my own little corner of the world. But just as
I’ve influenced others, I’ve been equally influenced by them. Over the last few
years, I have thought a lot about what it means to be a leader, and I’ve come
to the conclusion that the mark of true leadership is allowing people into your
heart. And that means opening yourself loss and pain and whole host of other
uncomfortable feelings. But what else are we to do in this world but let people
in?
On a lighter note, Mr. Typist and I were
recently pondering our complete lack of interest in going to the movies. He
thinks it’s because we’re aging, but I refuse to accept that. I simply find the
whole endeavor exhausting and unsatisfying. Most movies these days (oh God, I
said “these days”—maybe I am getting
old) seem bloated, overly-long, hyper, in-your-face, and unbearably frenetic. I
rarely leave a movie feeling transformed or even emotionally sated. I just
leave feeling like I’ve wasted three hours that I could have spent writing or creating
something. I’m perfectly happy to waste exactly the same amount of time on mindless
video games, but somehow I resent any time I spend at the movies if I leave
feeling like I just ingested a bunch of empty visual calories. Having once been
an avid filmophile, I’m a bit worried about what my growing indifference to
movies says about me. For now, I’ll just tell myself that it’s the films that
have changed, not me.
I have a reputation for being Grinchy, so here’s
my one big Christmas-y act of the season: Enjoy this video of Sir Colin Davis
conducting The Messiah with the London Symphony Orchestra:
--Kristen McHenry
No comments:
Post a Comment