Writing a Book Is Like...

Having spent a year researching, planning, writing, revising, rewriting and editing my first novel, expending no small amount of time, energy, blood, sweat and tears, one would think that the hard part was over. Au contraire, mon frère.

The actual writing of a novel is the fun part, the "easy" part; what comes after is the "not-so-easy" part: finding an agent. If you're of the squeamish ilk, then you'd better grow a thick skin--fast. Nothing can be so discouraging as the consistent chime of your "new email" alert nonchalantly apprising you of the form rejections dropping callously into your Inbox:

"Please be assured that we have given your project careful consideration. Unfortunately we don't feel the manuscript is right for us at this time."
Etcetera.

Then it's back to more agent research (GLA, online agent sites, the Jeff Herman Guide), putting together and shipping out Query packages, and waiting for more (most likely) rejections.
Etcetera.

But then one day it happens: an agent offers to sign you. Glory be! Now you're on easy street, right? Not by a long shot. Now comes more revisions and editing, until both you and your agent are satisfied. Only after that does the agent begin trying to sell your manuscript to an editor at a publishing house (hopefully one of the big six). And IF (notice that's a big "if") an editor offers to buy? Then comes even more revision and editing, more back and forth...
Etcetera.

Do you get the impression there exists a great deal of these "etceteras"? Uh huh. But hey, whoever said getting a novel published was easy? Probably the same folks who tell you that you can get rich quick in Multi-Level Marketing schemes.

No matter. If your passion is to write, then write is what you'll continue to do, whether you get paid for it or not. Of course, we all dream of having our words reach multitudes of readers with the hope that maybe--just maybe--we can touch those readers with the magic of our stories. Until then, we dangle an enticing carrot in front of ourselves and stretch for all we're worth.

And of course, we diligently put our butts in our chairs every day, and we write. And write. And...
Etcetera.