A Reflection on Ignorance

They say ignorance is bliss. What you don't know can't hurt you. Wrong.

For the past several years, I've considered myself a seasoned writer. After all my novella had the approval of a published, totally cooky, amazing author. I took her course and got an A. I passed advanced exams and placed out of all general English requirements. I even *gasp* basically skipped my Technical Reports class on a regular basis because I got my assignments right the first time. Every week, I showed up to pick up the graded assignment. Everyone else was required to stay and listen to the professor rant about how pathetic their writing was. I was given my paper and told, "Good job, see you next week." I received an A in that class as well. Even though, I only attended one full lecture that I can remember and that was the final presentation. Of course, that was undergrad. I haven't kept up with my writing skills all that much.

But, I know how to pretty up a resume. I can write a decent cover letter. I have an academic article published and another stuck somewhere out there in "accepted but not yet published" land. I wrote a 80 page honors thesis based on my undergraduate research. I've had poetry published in a literary magazine. I've written two short stories in vastly different genres. I've done essays and term papers, grant proposals and magazine articles, college application essays (which are by far the weirdest writing I've ever done). I think I've even gotten down how to write a decent email. And with the assistance of Swype, I can almost write a coherent text message.

I've written a 61,000 word novel.

In fact, I finished it this week. I've been running this particular race for well over two years. I'm grateful and relieved and somewhat annoyed by the fact that I'm finally done. Or so I thought. Sometime during the race, I pulled out my handy tablet and started doing some research. After all, what good is a novel, if it's not going to be published? This leads to the task at hand.

I need to write a query letter.

Oh, ho ho. A letter that sounds easy. I've been writing letters since back in the good old days before email became the primary form of business communications. Ha. I thought I was knowledgeable. I thought I knew what I was doing. I looked up how to write a query letter. What format do I need? What information should I include? How do I really get an agent to grab onto my letter and never let go? According to various sources, query letters are commonly emailed to a bucket list of agents, glanced at by each, and quite possibly thrown into the internet void of Deleted Emails. Not just by one or two of them. Not even by just half or most of them. Commonly, by ALL of them.

So, I subscribed to the single most useful blog in the history of the internet. Well, at least it is for me and for this purpose. QueryShark. I've read archives and comments. Poured over FAQs and detailed instructions. And yet I sit here with my half-written query sitting on my desktop and I'm writing a blog about it instead of just doing it. Well, actually, I'm writing a blog about it because I decided that growling and waving my hands at my computer like some sort of deranged conductor waiting for it to orchestrate itself was not working. No surprise there.

So, I guess I don't know everything and the extent of my lack of knowledge must extend to more than just querying. I'm sure it extends to lots of things in lots of places. Some of these places, I will never wish to travel. Others, I will venture into.