Stuck in the Doldrums

Alas, I am stuck in the doldrums, with regard to querying. You may be too, and not even know it.

To be clear, I’m using “doldrums” here in the original nautical sense, rather than the more modern usage. I am not depressed, listless, or down-in-the-dumps – although I certainly feel the pull of those conditions. No, in fact I am stuck waiting for the wind to pick up again.

The traditional meaning of being stuck in the doldrums goes back to the 18th century, when cross-Equatorial sailing voyages became common. The doldrums are low-pressure areas around the equator where prevailing winds are calm, and sometimes disappear altogether, trapping sailing ships for days or even weeks. No wind, no movement. And there was nothing you could do about it unless you happened to bring along a rowing crew and a ship equipped with oars. Many long-distance voyages got stopped in the becalmed waters of the doldrums and were trapped and helpless until the winds returned in their own good time.

So it is with querying in December and January. Agents typically go dark during December, closing to submissions and shutting down their slush piles. Not all, but many or most. And January is almost as bad, because that is when they tackle their month’s worth of unread e-mails and start to chip away at the unread manuscripts they requested before putting out their “Closed for the holidays” signs. So it is generally not a good idea to send out query letters – particularly blind, unsolicited queries in December and January.

So our efforts to find representation are temporarily stalled because the industry is becalmed. No movement forwards, but no movement backwards, either. The wind has just gone out of our sails, even though we are just as eager to get where we’re headed as ever.

You can see where “stuck in the doldrums” got its modern meaning. It is mildly depressing to be unable to make progress. To be forced to sit around and wait for time to pass. To be stagnant. And this feeling has begun to affect my writing, too. I had momentum, and now I have stalled, unable to make much headway because nothing is sweeping me away. Nothing is tugging at me to see what is over the horizon. My writing is becalmed, too, and I’m waiting for the wind to pick up again.

Of course I could try to force myself to write … despite all good advice to the contrary. But no good writing has ever come from forcing it, for me at least. Despite what happens in the cartoon, aiming a big fan at your sails will not make your boat go. I think I’m just going to have to wait for the querying to open back up again and the excitement I derive from that to put the wind back in my writing sails again. I have absolutely no doubt that will happen.

But like sailors stuck in becalmed seas, waiting for the prevailing winds to pick up, I too sit and wander when I’ll finally be able to move forward again.

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