Agent Stats Update 5

I don't have many more queries to send. I would have sent more, but I ran out of envelopes.

20 Agents Selected
15 queries submitted (10 electronic, 5 postal)
9 queries awaiting response (average wait time: 26 days)
6 rejections received (4 form-letter rejections; 2 personal rejections)
1 request for additional materials
Average response time: 10 days

The Joy of Writing

I’ve rediscovered that writing is relaxing and enjoyable. Somewhere in the bustling past few months, it seems that I’d lost that realization.

The other day, I was sitting behind the keyboard in my office with my daughter in a baby carrier out in front of me. I had a soundtrack playing, and Elora was kicking and occasionally trying to sing along (at least I think that’s what she was doing). My mind traveled off to the story I was writing, and it was just a wonderful experience.

I try to write stories that others will enjoy reading, but I think that even with stories that don’t make it to publication, I still gain enjoyment from them (along with more experience). Sometimes I do get frustrated with rejections, even after receiving so many, but I need to remember that even though I’m writing with the goal of publication, at the core of it all, I’m writing because I love to write.

This post is to encourage others who have let the strains of publication or life in general get in the way of the happiness that comes from putting words on a page. We are artists, dreamers, imagination wanderers. If we don’t pause to enjoy what we’re doing, why are we even doing it? There was a reason we first started pursuing writing, something we could not explain that compelled us to craft our thoughts through the written word.

If you’ve lost your way, come back. Take up the joy of writing again.

Agent Stats Update 4

I've sent four more queries out. That means I've attempted contact with 60% of my selected agents. All of the rest require postal queries. I'm noticing that some agencies mention on their websites that if they don't respond within a certain amount of time (specific to each agency), an author should consider that as a rejection. I never imagined all agencies would respond to my queries (based on past experience), but I am a little surprised to actually see this as a standard policy. Ah, well...

20 Agents Selected
12 queries submitted (10 electronic, 2 postal)
7 queries awaiting response (average wait time: 18 days)
5 rejections received (4 form-letter rejections; 1 personal rejection)
1 request for additional materials
Average response time: 11 days

Smash Brothers for Wii

Nintendo has at last released Smash Brothers for the Wii. My wife had reserved a copy for us at a local video game store, so we picked it up right after church yesterday.

With my daughter asleep, my wife and I started working our way through various challenges and getting used to the controls. Soon, my wife was asleep as well, leaving me to unlock characters, trophies and the like by myself. (After all, these things won’t unlock themselves, so someone had to get to work!)

I’ve only played the game for a few hours so far, but it seems comparable to Smash Brothers Melee for Game Cube. One thing I like is that the challenges aren’t limited to single players anymore, so my wife and I could team up to hit the sandbag or break targets.

The addictiveness of the game is fairly high, and if you have a personality type where you like to accomplish things, you’ll find yourself unable to stop playing, even when your eyes hurt. Not only does the game reveal that you’ve unlocked something (like a new trophy), but it also lets you know of some other things you will unlock if you complete certain requirements, such as win five games with Peach. There is an entire screen with row upon row of boxes that signify something to unlock.

I’d like to see us unlock all the characters just to have them available (in my limited play, I’ve unlocked Luigi and Captain Falcon). We probably don’t have the time to really work this game for all its worth, but it’ll be fun playing it from time to time, especially when we host parties.

Congratulations, Nintendo, on creating yet another great game for the Wii.

Agent Stats Update 3

I was only able to get one additional query out last week, but hopefully more will go out soon.

20 Agents Selected
8 queries submitted (6 electronic, 2 postal)
4 queries awaiting response (average wait time: 25 days)
4 rejections received (3 form-letter rejections; 1 personal rejection)
1 request for additional materials
Average response time: 10 days