Celebrating the Big Stuff

As aspiring writers, we have to take our small wins and be satisfied. It's a long journey to publication and some never make it. I think of it like the trek across the US that pioneers made. Along the way, some folks unloaded their wagons, or just stopped where the wheels broke.

Writing a novel and trying to get it published can be like that. A long slow journey where you are tempted to give up, give in, or unload your stuff.

Recently, I nagged a good friend of mine into writing a novel that he'd been toying with for 3 or 4 years. I nattered. I offered up the services of a critique group. I was relentless.

He finally got excited about a week long workshop that featured all kinds of writing help that starred one of his favorite authors. He put the money down and then began work on his manuscript. That's what it took for him. A deadline where he had to have the manuscript complete to attend the class.

He called me twice from the workshop. Once pissed and once terrified. Both times I talked him off the ledge. He stuck it out. He got through all the criticism. He got through the pitch sessions with editors and agents.

When he got to the end of the workshop, he was presented with an award for the 'most improved' writer during the course of the class. I could not be more proud of him! What an accomplishment! Every person there had a complete manuscript...they were all writers, not wannabes. Everyone voted and he was crowned (well, not really, but a tiara would have been cool!)

He called me when he got back to town and he was so stoked, so energized. It was contagious. I wanted to drag my manuscript out and get back to work. On days when it's hard to keep going, I try to celebrate every little thing. I made my word count for the day. I made all the edits without bursting into tears and thinking my critique group hates me. I wrote more this year than last year.

But sometimes, when we are very lucky, we get to celebrate the Big Stuff. Someone sells a book, gets a contract, sparks some interest with an editor. Those things, the stuff that is closer to actual publication, is the stuff we need to celebrate most of all.

So, he got three requests. One editor wants a partial. One wants a full. One agent wants a full AND wants another story out of him. That's HUGE! I think I'll buy him a Black & Tan at the Irish Pub tonight in lieu of critique. We need to celebrate.

--Sandee Wagner