Waiting

If there's one thing that life has taught me, it's to wait. Life is full of waiting. It's an important skill. It's not always easy, but there are times when it's necessary. 

Do you know that moment, when you've finished your story, sent it out into the world, and now you're back at the beginning, staring at a blank screen, wondering if you'll ever have another idea again? I hear this is common to writers.

Last time I queried I had this fear. I toyed around with several ideas, but none of them grabbed me, none of them had electricity. Each day I told myself I just had to focus, to work harder, and each day the panic increased. What if I never had another good idea, what if I couldn't ever finish another novel? Until one day a character walked up and told me her story.

Now that I'm querying again I've noticed the same fear, the same feelings of being lost. I wonder if I'll ever have another good idea, or if I have what it takes to finish another book. I'm a few years older now and hopefully a few years wiser, too. My fears were unfounded last time, I have to believe they will be this time too. 

So I wait.

I toy around with ideas, explore settings and themes, and spend a lot of time reading. And I believe that, eventually, someone will introduce themselves and ask to tell their story.