Reading Time: 3 Mins
I am here.
I have to tell myself this sometimes because the jobs I am applying to, the freelance gigs I have bid on, the agents I am querying and the publications I have submitted have just not been replying to me.
I send myself an email just to make sure my email is working. It is.
The waiting game. At any moment a number of hugely impactful things may converge. Feast after the famine.
I am in the middle of interviews for several full-time positions, each of which I would be excited about, but things have stalled over the summer months, likely due to decision makers being on holidays. I am keen and ready to get back to work and prospects here are encouraging.
And so I wait.
I started my freelance copywriting and editing business two weeks ago on Upwork and had my first client and job completed and paid within 48 hours. I have another bid on a dream piece of work and have made it to the next round but have not heard anything for several days.
Upwork used to be Elance, a site I did freelance work for in the early 2000s while still in school. It’s been good getting back to these freelancing roots and I’m excited where this new opportunity can take me.
But I am hesitating on bidding on new projects right now because if the one I bid on last week comes through, I will be suddenly very busy with it.
And so I wait.
I was introduced to an agent a while back by a friend and the fit seemed like it would be a good one for my MS. I sent through 50 pages, got a quick response and, several months later when I followed up, got a quick response again that I was on her radar. I followed up in early July and no response.
I should be continuing to query but have not had much luck or response for this MS so I have a lot pinned on this new connection.
And so I wait.
I submitted a short story to a very well known magazine and I check the submission tracker nearly every day. The average response time is 30 days and they have had my submission now for 117 days, which I am reading as a positive sign, having potentially made it past the initial reader.
Last Thursday I was 6th in the queue after being 9th for nearly a month; today I am 4th.
And so I wait.
If I hear back favourably on any of these things it could mean the start of a meaningful new chapter in my life.
Right now I am feeling like I’m not even in a chapter. I’m the space at the end of the last one, waiting to turn the page.
I am feeling paralyzed when it comes to the thought of starting anything new creatively because I don’t want to have to shut it down should anything I’m waiting for materialize.
So today I’ve decided to write another short story. An idea I’ve been kicking around for a while has knocked a bit of plaster off the front wall of my brain and the cracks are telling me it’s about to break through.
But first I needed to get all these other thoughts out, which is exactly the purpose of these Weekday Woolgathering posts.
This is me making a plan and tempting the universe to come and mess with it; a sort of cosmic reverse psychology
I’ll start writing it at noon today and just watch, by 2:00 I’ll get news on one of the things I’ve been waiting for and will have to set the short story on the back burner.
That’s the way life works, right?
Last but not least, I added a new page to the site today focused on my flash fiction, specifically the little bits and bobs I put out to the world on twitter.
One of the most satisfying things about writing the flash fiction for me are the character sketches that are starting to come out of them.
Who knows when any of these little snippets may turn into something bigger?
I certainly don’t.
And so I wait.