If the writing journey is like the rungs on a ladder, then I’ve lost track of what rung I’m on.

I had an idea——–First step

Early scenes———Second rung

Cohesiveness——–Third rung

Many Drafts———Fourth

——-Fifth

——–Sixth rungs

At that point, I must be at the midway point of the ladder.  I pitched.  Another step up.  I submitted an initial book proposal.  That felt like it deserved two rungs, because there was a lot more involved to that than I realized. And now I’m hanging out on this ladder.  Probably well above ground.  And I’m not too crazy about heights. I’m not even sure how long I’ll be on this rung.  It could be a long time if I get several rejections.  Or would each rejection be considered another step up?  Some would say a step down.  But I don’t see it that way.  Every time I send this story into the world, a door will open or close.  A step closer to where it is supposed to find a home.  That’s a step up, isn’t it?

During my prayer time, I ask God to help me accept the disappointment if the answer is no. Or not yet.  Or not this project. Or you’re not ready.  I also ask Him to show me that if the door opens wide, if it is the door I’m meant to step through.  Although, you might be wondering how I’d arrived to this step, or why I’m mixing my metaphors with ladders and doors.  Should I throw in some chutes too and the old childhood board game will leave you thoroughly confused? Let’s move step slide along shall we?

Photo by Kris Schulze on Pexels.com

If you’re not familiar with some of the pitching events on Twitter, I advise that you find out more.  There are a few different events and most of them are hosted a couple of times a year.  I devised four pitches for an event called #FaithPitch.  Throughout the day I tweeted my pitches (reworded in different ways and with a different angle to hopefully gain interest) and if an industry professional liked my pitch, that was my invitation to send them whatever information they required for a submission.

The following week I polished a book proposal and included the first three chapters of my manuscript and sent it off to the interested parties. And now I wait.  But this was never a step I thought I’d be taking.  So for me, just to be able to say I submitted my work somewhere feels like a huge accomplishment.  The editing process had been such a grind.  And the finished product took almost a full year to complete from the previous draft.  But because of how time consuming it was, there were many other writerly things that I had let fall by the wayside.  Including regularly posting on ye olde blog.

My goal right now, besides starting on the second book in the series (more about that in another post), is to work on newsletter content and enlist subscribers, polish the website, schedule social media content posts regularly, and blog more. And if you read my last post, I’m also working on a side project that may be a newsletter subscriber offering or published in a different way.  I’m waiting on God’s leading on that and hope when I have a newsletter ready to go, that I’ll be able to reveal a little more then.

Sometimes I keep expecting to go back to the project I’ve finished, forgetting that it is done.  That there is no more work to do until I’m given more direction on how to make it better.  I don’t feel capable to change the story on my own anymore.  I’ve made it the best I can through multiple detours and drafts along the way.  Sometimes I forget that what I’ve already accomplished is huge because I have so many writer friends who’ve written and published multiple books.  It’s a nice reminder when friends who are not in the writing biz comment on what a big undertaking this was.  And they’re right.  I never dreamed I could write a whole book.  A picture book maybe.  But a novel? Three years ago when it was a fractured mess of scenes with a broken thread plotline and underdeveloped characters?  I would have said you were crazy.  But here I am.   Halfway up the ladder and ready to finish the climb.  Unless finishing the book was the top.  Which if that’s the case, I think I need a taller ladder.  Because I have another book in me, and I’m excited to take the next step.