momentum

My guest blog post came up, yesterday, here, about critique groups.

Though I can sound experienced, I’m not the greatest writer in the world quite yet. Editors aren’t exactly knocking down my door, but they are reading my query letters, articles, and essays.

I’ve read a lot lately at this lady’s helpful, interesting blog. Mridu Khullar has made her successful way into freelance writing at a young age and working from her native India and around the globe. Her (free!) series on query letters reminded me of things I learned eons – well, awhile – ago. It got me sending out queries again. Thanks, Mridu! The first one I sent garnered interest. The second one not so much, but we’ll see how number three fares.

Wishy-washy as always, I can’t land quite yet on one way to pursue this stuff. Creative nonfiction essays still beckon during my early morning hours; I labor over them, hoping to gain real craft. But the literary universe remains elusive, quirky, risky, and at the same time amazing.

More practical is writing for magazines. Times are tough, of course, but paying markets are still out there. I do enjoy coming up with zippy phrases and sharing about things I know or have researched. I want to keep trying for those possible paychecks, maybe finance the literary education, such as it is.

Yesterday my son revealed how skilled he’s become during past months at juggling. Using three tennis balls, James can now keep them all going just about indefinitely. Though he doesn’t feel in complete control of them yet, he’s able to hang onto their momentum. “They keep going, and all I do is stay with them,” he says.

I’m borrowing that metaphor. My old writing days, with children to tend, looked much like tossing one tennis ball, then finally two, up and down and around in sequence. Right now I might be adding the third ball; don’t really know yet. But momentum’s happening. My modest goal has become to send out two things per work week. This week I sent three. One came back already. But I plan to toss it around and up again.

Blogging about this may help me stick to my plan. I’ll let you know. You’re welcome to tell me if you’re juggling momentous-type goals, as well.