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In the previous episode, a piece of Gina's in The New York Times netted her a
nibble from a major publisher and a high-powered agent. In her excitement over this flurry of interest, she rushed out
a book proposal. It was rejected, and the big-time agent lost interest. In this installment, Gina ponders the lessons
of that experience and acts on them.
The Leap
Part 5: Let the Writing Lead
So impatient was I to convert from freelancer to full-time book author that I loosed my proposal onto
the marketplace before it had finished baking. My central problem was that my book's thesis was still forming. Slowly,
I began to understand why, though I had longed for a writing career since age 5, it didn't coalesce until I was nearly
40.
In 1997, I had taken a weeklong intensive writing workshop in Taos, N.M. with a nationally renowned
writing teacher, Natalie Goldberg. Among other works, I
had written a collection of childhood vignettes about my childhood and wondered what, if anything, I should "do" with
them.
One afternoon, as we broke for lunch, I followed Natalie into the dining room posing that question.
"Just keep writing," she said, flicking her hand through the air as if swatting a gnat.
"But, should I -"
"Just keep writing."
I thought Natalie was dismissing me. But six years later, as I recalled that Taos moment, I realized
that the author and 20-year Zen practitioner had imparted a lesson.
I'm a competent writer who can craft serviceable prose in a day. But my talent flows from an awareness
- gleaned from four years of freelancing and some measure of life experience - that good writing takes time.
As Natalie said in Zen-speak, writing is process not product. It comes in waves and flashes, prods and
shards, during long walks and in hot showers. It instructs on clarity, potency, texture and rhythm, saying things like,
"This goes here," "That's not what you really think" and "Thesaurus." To "just keep writing" means I don't drive
creation; I listen for what comes next.
In spring 2002, what came next was to stop.
Other than writing my opinion column for The Hartford Courant and jotting occasional musings for
articles I might freelance write for other markets, I followed that "instruction" and shelved my proposal.
In late summer, with the self-imposed pressure eased and my book's thesis baking in my subconscious, I
tiptoed back into the publishing arena with an e-mail query to another agent. That query was rejected but it unleashed
an epiphany. Ding! Conceptually and structurally, my book was done.
I targeted a different agent, whom I had met two years earlier at my union local's annual conference.
For several reasons, her agency and my book seemed like a good fit. Buoyed by my newfound literary clarity, I queried
her and within 10 days, her agency returned my SASE requesting my proposal. Having learned from my last tango with the
marketplace, I took the time that my writing said it required, and then I released it via overnight mail.
It's been three months.
My book publishing mentor and two other established authors, with whom I regularly interact via email,
said, "Long enough. Time to check in."
Now I've mailed the follow-up letter to the agent, and the countdown has begun. In the meantime,
patience needn't be passivity's pallid cousin. I'm waiting actively, while reminding myself that each of my publishing
opportunities flowed to me because I wrote from the inside out. To paraphrase self-publishing guru Dan Poynter - I made
my passion center my profit center.
I led with my passion when I wrote an article about the challenges of my Dec. 25th birthday, profiting
when The Hartford Courant published it as an op-ed article. I led with my passion when I regaled that same paper's
assistant managing editor with my personal ad dating adventures, prompting her to say, "I can see it now: 'Dating
Gina.'" Again, I profited when her vision became my reality in the form of a regular Sunday magazine column that ran
for a year.
This Marsha Sinetar-esque, "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow" approach to building my writing
career led to my world travel column and later, an opinion column. When I unabashedly wrote an essay about being
sexually harassed in elementary school, The New York Times Magazine said, "We'd like to buy it" and so did the
education publisher, NCS Pearson before printing another 10,000 copies in one of its college writing textbooks.
Propelled by the renewed realization that my writing career gains ground when I honor my voice, I'm
laying the next section of track for the publication of my first book: I'm upgrading my proposal with help from a March
workshop hosted by the Boston Local of the NWU. Then resubmitting it (if need be) to the marketplace via multiple agent
submissions, as advised by my mentor and other seasoned authors on the NWU-book list serve. And I'm building my Web
site and e-mail subscription newsletter to connect directly with readers.
In our next episode, Gina gets a response from the agent. For the next installment of the Leap, go
to the ginagreenlee.com newsletter.
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