A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-And-Seventy-Three

I wrote another poem today that I feel quite good about.  Honestly, the idea was in my head last night, but I didn't follow it immediately and instead tried for something that wasn't right, or perhaps just isn't quite ready.  I'm not certain what made me balk, other than the memory of another poem that may share some qualities, but is still quite a bit different, on many levels.  Besides, the other poem isn't published, and it may be that the same idea can find a better expression in any case.  What is even more important, though, is even if the piece wasn't something that had any actual originality in the end, or was otherwise not worth having written, the act of writing it would have mattered.  Though, at the same time, I know that the poem I wrote isn't the same one that I would have written at a different time, so I am glad I did the work when I did, as I appreciate the result, as well as the lesson.  Still, I know that in the future, I should just get to work on an idea, when it is ready, as forcing something else to come does not generally work, and it is also easy, at times, to lose an idea.  It didn't occur this time, which is fortunate, but I know that ideas can easily disappear at any time.

In addition, I've begun drafting a letter to Renee Zuckerbrot, though it is still incomplete.  It is a bit of a tricky letter, in some ways, and I think it is worth taking the time to do it properly.  I know that I can present a myself better in that format, and I trust that she recognizes that writers can get nervous in such a situation.  It is a bit stressful, honestly, and while I see agents as nurturing, even so I still know that an agent can play a very pivotal role for a writer.

All that is to say that I think I have a sense of certain changes I'll need to make in my query for this letter, though many are a result of the interaction we had, and things that she stated in her presentation.  I do think that the overall impression I left was positive for the most part, merely that I didn't present my work in the way that I would have actually liked to.  I also think that I did come away with a lesson about some of this, and that I want to approach certain things a bit differently.

Anyhow, I think it is worth my taking a bit of time to make certain that I compose a version of my query that is appropriate to that interaction, and will present her with the opportunity to revise certain aspects of my initial impression for the better.

I am feeling rather good about things, in general.  I have a bunch of research to do before the next set of query letters goes out, and that will take a bit, so I may not send out again all that quickly, but I know that I will get it done sooner than later, and am quite happy to already be progressing in my pursuit.  I know it can take a long while, and it is probably optimistically naive to only send out the letters so slowly at the moment, but I am aware that this is the start, and I am sure that I'll become more aggressive if that is needed, sending them out in greater numbers soon.  It feels right to start slow, though.

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