Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Into the Wide Blue Yonder

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success - but only if you persist. ~ Isaac Asimov



With the incredible contests taking place at Shelli and Elana's blogs, as well as the giveaway here at my own blog, I've been thinking a lot about how we all foam at the mouth for a chance to win an agent critique of our manuscript or query letter (What? You don't foam at the mouth? Well, maybe that's just me.).


Why is it so exciting, this possibility of a professional critique? Because that is what we're working toward. We write and we revise and we revise some more for the opportunity to send our work out there, into the wide blue yonder, hoping against hope that it will be wanted. Every opportunity to improve the odds is a magnetic pull, irresistible and powerful.

I wish us all the best of luck - in these contests, but more importantly in our end-of-journey success!

38 comments:

Amalia Dillin said...

I love that Isaac Asimov quote. Thanks for posting it!

Valerie Geary said...

I gotta get me one of dem posters!

Shelley Sly said...

Love the poster! :)

Mariah Irvin said...

Great poster and quote!

Christina Lee said...

so love this!

Shannon Messenger said...

Awesome quote and I love that poster. If my walls were so cluttered already I would totally hang that in my loft!

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

I love that poster!! LOVE it. Like I'm going to try and make the image fit on my blog sidebar :) THANKS for posting it!!

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

Okay, so it only fit at the bottom, but STILL. I love it!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Okay, guys! The poster can be purchased at allposters.com, and I'm sure you can find it elsewhere too! I want one for my classroom. :-)

Unknown said...

That was really great, Shannon. Thanks for posting the quote and your thoughts.

Karen Lange said...

This is great! Thanks for sharing it.

Stephanie Thornton said...

I love that quote and the poster too. It's amazing where and when the inspiration to write hits us- gardening, walking, etc.

lisa and laura said...

Fabulous! It's all so true.

Carolyn V. said...

We're all in this together. Good luck in the contest Shannon. =) I love the poster too. Excellent rules (especially #12 1/2). =)

Jackee said...

LOVE that quote. Thanks, Shannon!

Jen said...

LOVE the poster :) Thanks for sharing!

Jen

Lisa Miles said...

I love that 12 1/2 Writing Rules. I have that posted above my desk.

Lori W. said...

That Asimov quote was just what I needed today. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Love the Asimov quote. Just love it. Plus, all these query crit contests make me want to hurry up and finish my novel, so I can write a doggone query...

DL Hammons said...

I'm not sure why I'm so hot to trot to win a query critique...because I suck at it! Maybe they can help me make it suck less??? :(

Elana Johnson said...

I love that quote. It's one of the scariest and most thrilling things ever -- to send your work out to someone else. It doesn't matter if it's a crit buddy or a query letter, it's scary. But a very necessary first step. :)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I'm thrilled you all love the quote so much - I love it, too!

Simon - Get those doggies rollin', Sir!

DL - I doubt very much that you suck at it, but I have zero doubt that Elana (or any of the others) can help. :-)

Elana - You are so wise and so right. It can be terrifying, but it's a necessary part of the journey.

Unknown said...

Love that quote!

Thanks for the contest info :)

Kelly Polark said...

Love the poster! I like "If it's boring to you, it's boring to the reader."

Courtney Barr - The Southern Princess said...

I LOVE THESE! I have already saved them to a document & plan to print them out as Wallet reminders...(yes I am weird) ;o)

I also added the Asimov to my blog quote sidebar...

Visit My Kingdom Anytime

sarahjayne smythe said...

I love the quote and love the poster. :) Thanks for the great post.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Eeeks, methinks I have a drawer full of gnawed heads. gah.
Love the quote and the poster and your post. :D

Kimberly Franklin said...

I love that picture. : )

PS - I left a little something for you today on my blog.


Click here to visit my blog!

Roxane B. Salonen said...

Love this Shannon: "Every opportunity to improve the odds is a magnetic pull, irresistible and powerful." There is an energy in this whole thing. A couple times in my writing life, I've let rejection halt my energy. It was an awful feeling. The words on this poster suggest that we keep the energy going, going, going...and I agree, that is best on many different levels. Love the poster AND your added thoughts at the end.

* said...

Great quote!
Great poster!
Great contests!!

Hope you have a...um, great week! (what were you expecting, splendid? :)

Kelly H-Y said...

Love the writing rules!

Susan Fields said...

Great quote and poster. And thanks so much for the awesome contest! You're not alone - I'm foaming at the mouth, too! :)

Mary Aalgaard said...

It's such a morbid image to picture your ms sitting inside a drawer eating itself. It makes me giggle, then cringe, then think about a way to get it out of there and save it from consumption. I love writing contests (entered the Highlights one), but these blogging contests have me baffled.

Jemi Fraser said...

You're not alone - I foam at the mouth too :)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Princess - Yes, you are weird, but that's why we love you so much! :)

Tricia - Ha ha ha. That's quite a visual image!

Kimberly - Thanks for thinking of me!

Roxane - Energy. That's it exactly, Roxane. We can't let our momentum or our determination lag. We have to keep moving forward.

Terresa - Very funny! I didn't think you use ordinary words like great. Hmmm...interesting.

Susan & Jemi - Thanks. I'll pass my drool rag when I'm finished with it.

Mary - Oh, thank you for making me chuckle. It's been a rough night and I needed it.

J.R. Johansson said...

I love that list! :) Great post!

Sherrie Petersen said...

LOL foaming at the mouth :)
And I love the quote from Asimov. Good luck to you too!

Liz @ Cleverly Inked said...

LOL poster is funny and cute

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