I’m sure different people have different ways of staying motivated. Some people may want to guard themselves against the sting of rejection as much as possible, so they go about their writing lives refusing to get their hopes up. That way, when rejections start to pile up, they don’t get so dejected they feel like quitting.
I know this line of reasoning because I’ve tried it, but it is so not me.
I’m the type of person that has to daydream about what it will feel like when I get The Call. How will I celebrate when I sell my first book? How big will my first advance be? In case you were wondering, the first time I get a really Big piece of news I’m planning to vlog. Yes, that is video blogging in case you didn’t know. Because I’m pretty sure that the second I get great news my reaction is going to be so funny and inarticulate, that everyone will be amused. Plus, I’ll be too happy to care!
Anyway, this brings me to my point. Will I “squee”? This is a big question for me. Apparenty, squee-ing is a big deal. In every writers’ forum I enter there are people squee-ing all over the place. They don’t squeal. No, writers, as I understand it, are supposed to squee.
(Example: On a writing forum, someone will announce that they are, at last, agented. Then they write, “Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Usually accompanied by smilie faces. Then, other people when coming on to congratulate the poster will also type out, “Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”)
Now, for me personally, the Squee does not come naturally. Trust me, I’ve tried it. But, if I’m trying to feel like a bona fide, agented or published writer, I think I might have to squee. Is it some kind of right of passage? Dilemma, I know.
I hope you will all do some serious thinking on this pressing issue so that you’ll be prepared for when the time comes. And for those of you who’ve had the occasion: To squee or not to squee?
Status: Nate and I spent the weekend in lock-down reading mode. I was so excited to finally pick up I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You (the 1st book in the Gallagher Girls series) from the library. I started reading it and I loved it. Then, Nate shows up and steals it! Yes, my boyfriend is a book stealer. He started it last night when he got to Philly and finished it today. I guess he liked it.
That left me reading Twilight, which I had planned to read after Gallagher Girls because it’s longer. Now I’m about halfway through that and can’t decide what to read. I guess I’ll probably try to finish Twilight because Nate wants it next.
I have to finish about 5 pages of script tonight, but I’m pretty much done with the Beacon Street Girls sample. Now I just need to clean up my own writing sample.
3 Comments
June 30, 2008 at 4:04 am
What actually is to squee?
All the rest of your blog makes a lot of sense for most people but I had come down with ’severe clinical depression’ from another source. When I received the letter advising that the publisher I’d contacted (the third I’d tried – I didn’t try for an agent) would publish the book, I went deeper into despair. How could I be an author? What if people read the book and didn’t like it, after paying good money for it?
So my start was a bit bumpy. Thank goodness my family stood firm beside me. My wife dealt with the publishers until the editor sent a couple of suggestions. Then I had to jump back into my own work – and I could – and I thrived by doing so.
So writing saved me from the depths of depression. I nearly went back when I saw my first royalty cheque (just joking, but it was pretty small compared to what I’d hoped for).
But I wish you well finding an agent.
June 30, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Hey Richard- I’m glad writing has become such a positive force in your life. It reminds me of how writing helped give Stephen King the will to recover after his horrible accident.
Anyway, I clarified in the post what squee-ing is, but it is basically a reaction that writers use in writing forums to express good news.
i.e. I got The Call. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
July 23, 2008 at 8:17 pm
[...] For other posts on the process of writing read: The Squee and [...]