My freshman year at USC, I had an instructor that gave us some sage advice: Don't expect that Flashdance moment because it doesn't happen like that in the real world.
Was he bitter? A bit. He had been struggling for years trying to break into 'the biz' with little success. Frustrated, he confessed to throwing his crucifix out his living room window. This was a huge deal as he was a devout Catholic.
What a feeling, bein's believin'
I can't have it all, now I'm dancin' for my life
Take your passion, and make it happen
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life
What he probably meant for us to walk away with was - it ain't happening, kids. Give it up. You're a bunch of dreaming fools.
What I took from it (because I am allowed to take things as I want to whether they were intended that way or not) - It's not going to happen overnight. It takes a lot of dancing before you get there. Don't quit that day job.
Ironically, that bitter teacher is now an extremely successful Executive Producer in television. I'm not going to name him as he sometimes reads my blog and we have mutual friends that check in as well. If he happens upon this, I know that he will chuckle over the memory. I admire him deeply and I love the way that this unfolded. From the classroom to the writer's room (I had the opportunity to work with him later!), it was a long journey for him.
He taught me that you don't EVER give up. EVER. If you want something badly, you hang in there and you work for it. You fight for it. It will happen. Just not overnight. And throwing a crucifix through the window only shatters the window - leaving you with a hefty bill and years of paranoia that God is going to hold that against you.
QUERY STATS SO FAR:
16 queries sent
7 rejections
1 partial request
I'm still dancing. I'll be teaching all week as well.
What about you - do you believe in Flashdance moments? Are you taking your passion and making it happen?
(Note: No crucifixes were thrown while writing this post, sending out queries this week or upon receiving rejections. Okay, so I don't own a single crucifix but I do own dishes. Those are all safe in the cupboard.)
I totally had a Flashdance moment last Wednesday. I haven't blogged about it yet, but let's just say that Wednesday wish I made a few weeks ago came true...
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear your query progress and congrats on the partial request! And good advice too - nothing happens overnight. You gotta work for it, and I believe too that if you want something bad enough, you'll get it eventually.
The Flashdance moments come after a lot of work, but most never see that.
ReplyDeleteHA! Good advice (your perspective on it ;) Now, Shall we dance?
ReplyDeleteWhat a feeling indeed! You know that partial request makes up for all the rejections. :) I've started querying again:) I hope we both get good news soon!
ReplyDeletehugs!
Love that you turned something negative(ish) into a positive! If you love it, you'll keep working at it! But it does take a lot of hard work! I think I'll take Colene up on that offer of dancing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good lesson to take from that! Querying can be so stressful, and you've put in so much work, but you're right--just keep dancing.
ReplyDeleteI do think they happen. I think that we just don't always know about the amount of work that goes into them. That' pretty cool that you have a partial request too.
ReplyDelete