Daily Archives: June 11, 2018

Once upon a manuscript…by Jina Bacarr

You know the drill. You write a wonderful story, pour your heart into it, and send it off.

Then you wait.

You drink coffee, refuse to let anyone come between you and your phone so you can check your email 24/7, you obsess, eat chocolate, exercise to work off said chocolate so you can eat more, then give up eating altogether because your throat is so tight from the stress, you binge watch everything you can on TV so you can forget the horror of waiting and wish you’d fall into a hundred years’ sleep so the pain will go away.

A major run-on sentence. But that’s life in the “waiting to hear back from the publisher who requested the full” in the manuscript world.

Okay, so what do you do?

Write another book.

You’ve heard it before and I agree, but it’s also important to take some “me” time. After all, you’ve been taking care of your characters, who can be quite demanding, keep you up at nights, make you cry and drink coffee nonstop, so now it’s time to put your feet up and relax.

Then work on another book.

Writers are not machines.

We need nurturing, healthy food, exercise, fresh air, and social interaction. So as I sit here writing this and waiting to hear back on my manuscript, I’m going to do just that.

I’m going for a walk to the nearby coffee shack, have a mocha coffee and, God help me, a warm croissant oozing with raspberries and melting chocolate chips.

And just breathe.

And yes, I’m bringing my phone with me.

Just in case the editor calls…

Jina

PS – I’ll update my post when I hear anything on my m/s – an Italian billionaire prince story and his Cinderella.