Go for Gold

Tip of the Day: want something fun to eat while watching the Olympics? Try some of these dishes from Taste of Home.

It's nearly impossible not to have Olympic Fever right now, so there's not much else on my mind. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that sometimes being an author feels similar to how an Olympic athlete must feel when they have to wait four more years to see if they can make the Olympic Team. And based on the performance of the gymnastics team so far this Olympics, I'm realizing athletes and writers have even more in common.

No tale of sadness at this Olympics has seemed quite as frustrating as Jordyn Wieber being left out of the All-Around competition in gymnastics. Just watching her break down on national television caused me to tear up myself (which isn't saying a whole lot, considering I teared up during the Love in the Wild finale last week...but still). She was slated to possibly win Gold, but instead made a few minor faults and placed third on her team during the qualification round. Of course, athletes make mistakes and it's incredibly heartbreaking not to get the opportunity to achieve something you've worked your whole life for. It's nothing new. But what's makes this tale particularly frustrating has to be the fact that she qualified for the competition--as I'm sure you've all heard by now--finishing fourth overall, while the top 24 athletes move on to the All-Around competition. However, a rule states that only two athletes from each country can compete, and since she finished behind two of her American teammates she was out. Which just stinks and seems to add fire to her wound. 

It's not that she wasn't good enough--well not entirely at least--it's just that she wasn't better than two of her teammates that day.

So how is this like writing?

How many of you have heard stories of writers not being published, not because they weren't good enough, but instead because a certain publisher might have just bought a similar book... or because one editor wants to aquire the book but can't get it through acquisitions for whatever reason? Or even because what you are writing is not in trend at the moment, even though you know tons of people that still read it. There's so many reasons why books don't get published. Many times it has to do with the fact they aren't very good or sellable, but there's plenty of other times when it has nothing to do with the quality of the book or even the content.

Which can be unfair.

Exactly how I'm sure Ms. Wieber feels completely cheated right now at the rule that seems slightly unfair.

Well at least her consolation prize is that she has a chance to win Gold with her team today (unless it's already happened--in that case if you already know the outcome, no spoilers in the comments. I'm sick of turning to NBC by accident right before an event is broadcast only to learn who already won on the Nightly News....on the same network.)

Happy Olympic Watching!

Am I anything like an Olympic Athlete?

Tip of the Day: if you are an avid gymnastics fan--like me--don't miss the upcoming Olympic trials this week!

It's not even July yet, but I already have London fever and have been watching a few of the Olympic trials.

What strikes me is how long many of them have been training for the Olympics.

Now it's pretty obvious if you want to be an Olympic athlete you are going to have to practice hours a day and start your sport from birth.

But I've already watched a few diving and swimming athletes that have been waiting four years for one more shot. Maybe they lost the last Olympic team by 0.2 seconds (or whatever). Four years is a long time to wait to see if you've improved by that 0.2 seconds (or now it might be a minute, since everyone else has improved around you too) to be fast enough to make the new team.

Four years is a long time to prove yourself.

Luckily for us writers, even if we get rejected on one book, we don't have to wait four more years to see if another agent will pick up the book or even to submit another book.

However, sometimes it feels like it.

There's been multiple occasions when I've almost said out loud something to the effect of, "I honestly have to write a whole other book to see if that one will be the one that gets published?"

I'm not a speedy writer by any means. I've tried to practice every other writer's advice to start working on the next book, even before I stop shopping the current book. But still, there are occasions when it feels really daunting to come to terms with setting aside one book (or dream) and focus on a completely new book to realize the same dream. And the time and effort put into the new book often feels like an eternity (especially during those times of horrible writer's block). I'd imagine it's somewhat how these aspiring Olympic athletes feel: they had one shot to make the team and lost out. Now they have to focus their energy on the next task where they can realize their dream.


Not that getting an agent or a book deal is the end all of my writing career. It would be just the beginning. But there are days when it feels like that validation of receiving that honor would make all the hard work worth it. Being in limbo is hard to deal with at times. You don't know if you are a good enough writer or if you are just wasting your time. And you don't really know what to fully expect when that book deal does come around.

I'm just lucky we get more than one shot at making the dream a reality, unlike many of these athletes. Thank goodness.

Let's just hope it doesn't feel like another four years until I finish the next book and start submitting it.

--Emily, Miss Querylicious