What's Been Going On

You don't know how complicated and useful your back is until you damage it.

I was attacking weeds in the backyard last week, something that involved lots of bending in the cold, and when I stood up I could barely walk. So the last few days have been an exercise in learning how to sit, stand, and lie down in ways that neither strain the injured muscles, overtax the other muscles that are trying to compensate for the injury, nor result in freezing up and spasms.

All I can say is, heat pads are my friend.

Nothing else of terrible interest has been happening. I continue to work on writing-related chores, and am trying to get up the energy to write something small I can query an editor with. I hate the whole querying process - I think that one of the best things a person could teach a child would be how to write an effective cover letter. I would not be in the least bit surprised to learn that many opportunities have slipped through my fingers because I can't. (It's not that I write bad ones; it's that the ones I write are boring and labored.)

I find it ironic that I can't persuade people to take a chance on my writing because I can't write a one-page letter.

(I won't, at this point, go into the fact that there are only two publications that are a fit for the kind of writing I do at this time. I haven't decided how badly I want to be published if it requires me to write outside my strengths and interests. I'm still leery over that whole competing-with-the-more-accomplished thing.)

The weather is chill and grey, and most things are pretty quiet, whether we're talking birds, trees, grass... The only exception is cats. The porch is a magnet to them. The total is up to four visiting cats now. Two are cute, one is adorable, and one is a huge tom that pisses so much around the place that we can smell it from inside. If it weren't so cold, I'd spray him with the hose.

I'm in the process of felting a new pair of mittens as we speak. The previous pair I've given up on. The first one was a lot of work, and ended up looking like crap. I frogged it back to fix it, and it still looked like crap. So I'm done with it.

D.'s job search is at a still point. No new news, either good or bad.

Life is quiet. I can't decide if that means that it is boring too.

Comments

[Pilgrim/Heretic]

Condolences for the back problems (oww), pissy cats, and lack of job news, but thanks for the update! Nice to hear from you. :)

[butuki]

Every time I've written a cover letter that worked it has been something that was very similar to the article or book I wrote. I usually start with an anecdote that dramatizes the tie-in with the point of the query. All you have to do is imagine how bored the editor is sitting there reading boring queries and try to figure out a way to make the query just as exciting as what you would want to read. Write it the way you do your blog entries. You are sure to wake up the editor! Remember that the query letter is nothing more than an advertisement of your writing. I try to make my query letters as interesting and unique as I hope my regular writing is... Sorry for the lecture!

[Rana]

I appreciate the advice, butuki. :)

Thing is... I've tried that, and it still looks weird to me. I guess I've been too heavily socialized in what a "proper" business letter looks like -

Dear Mr. Blah,

I write to you today to blah blah blah... I hope you will... blah...

Sincerely, me.

--
Either that, or it's that I feel self-conscious just diving in talking about how nifty-keen I am, as if it's my gift to the world to tell them all so. Especially since I don't generally think I AM all that nifty-keen - just good enough to be worth taking a risk on.

Hell of a place to have a writer's block, in any case!