I’ve been writing quick synopses of my stories while submitting my work for another round of rejections. I’ve already gotten two lovely rejections and one lovely acceptance since my submission surge yesterday. But writing these quick recaps of the point of my work in my cover letters for the editors is helping me see my growing skill at doing so.
Summarizing a lot of information and getting to the point of that information is one of the skills of being a therapist. As a therapist, I have to know what are the turning points in a session–what revelatory moments best encapsulate my clients’ stories, their needs and dreams?
So writing therapy notes, as skill I’ve been honing since 2013, actually comes in handy for writing other kinds of things. What is the core of my argument, what is the point of this narrative? How nice to see now how one skill set (therapist) marries with another skill set (writer), strengthening my skills overall.
I sometimes feel pulled between my two vocations, so these moment of positive reflection are a relief and a blessing. Life is entwined, all skills matter, all experiences matter, every seed comes to fruition, often in unexpected ways.
The other bit of learning from reviewing my submission and rejection log: it takes me about 20 submissions to get one piece published, and perhaps the issue in having this large stockpile of unpublished pieces is partly that I’ve been quite lax about sending work out. I will have to be more disciplined going forward. Work can only see light if it is sent out into the daylight.
Maybe this too is a gift of therapy–return to the work and persevere is a lesson all therapists learn. We must keep showing up, companionably, to support change and witness evolution. So write, edit, submit, wait, edit again, resubmit is my new mantra.
Sending love from the writing trenches, Sylvie