Why Writing is Sometimes Tough. . .
It’s the blasted waiting.
Writing is like a lesson in patience. First, you have some idea what you want to write and it takes you months or years to accomplish. Then you have to go through and edit it. I don’t know about other writers, but I read through my novels at least three or four times, each time anxious to get to the end to see how it sounds. Then I send it out to some select readers: My betas are printed authors, avid horror fans, and avid readers who don’t like horror. Then I go back through the novel with their comments and suggestions in mind, editing it a couple more times.
Then comes the really trying part…sending it out and waiting for responses. I try not to query more than a couple of agents at a time. They generally have response times in the 2-20 week range…and caveats like “If we don’t respond, just assume we didn’t like it.”
For me, the waiting is the toughest part of writing. I know I have a good product, but dag nab, I am ready to stop waiting. 
Chat with Jamie Brenner of Artists & Artisans
Last night I had the privilege of joining an online chat with Jamie Brenner from Artists & Artisans. She was very polite and full of useful information. Here are some of the key things I took away:
Always put your hook, genre, and wordcount up front when querying her. She said she likes to see that, then skims over the rest of the letter.
She doesn’t mind working with unpublished writers. She said many agents are looking for debut novelists (so don’t get discouraged).
Know exactly where your novel fits in. Genre benders (like supernatural thrillers or literary horror) are fine because those are accepted crossovers, but problems arise when a novel cannot or will not fit in a category. Perhaps I should dispense with that erotic-granny-lit novel I was working on.
It is good to make comparisons to other authors, but do so with care. Don’t simply choose the biggest name on the list. Many people will do that and agents/publishers will ignore it. If you’re going to compare your writing to someone else, find someone who does very well, but isn’t a Stephen King. As she says, the research will pay off.
First novels should be between 60k-100k words. Longer novels make agents wonder if the writer has plot-structure problems.
At the moment, that’s about all I recall. When the transcripts are available, I will look through them for any other useful information.
Vent About Synopses
I spent almost enough time as a college student to retire from it. I admit, for a while, I didn’t look at it as tuition, but as an entrance fee to the semester long party. Now, mind you, I still did okay.
This is why it surprises me to learn I am horrible at writing synopses and query letters. There should have been a semester long class dedicated to nothing but this process. I have spent the last three day–no less than 12-15 hours each day, doing nothing but working on a synopsis for a novel. I have the book written. You’d think it would be easy to condense it down from 87k words to 500. Not so. I am relatively satisfied with that one and now have gone back to another. So far, I have invested about 60 hours in writing and rewriting this one. At the moment, I’m playing hooky from it, so I can vent here.