Um...Query, much?

Oh. My. God.

You think finishing a 103,000 page-one rewrite is tough? Try distilling those 103,000 words into a one paragraph hook!

By way of explanation, a standard query consists of three paragraphs:

Paragraph 1 = Hook
Paragraph 2 = Synopsis, or tagline (think back flap of novel, or jacket blurb)
Paragraph 3 = Bio (publishing credits, awards)

And the purpose of the query is to solicit enough interest from either a literary agent or an editor from a publishing house to request either a partial sub (usually the first 5 chapters) or the whole darn manuscript (103,000 words = 437 pages)

So, here's how it went for me:

Prewrite: Many, many hours (research on query letters)
Day 1: Write hook,
Day 2: Deliberate on said written hook,
Day 3: Revise said written hook,
Days 4-7: Add synopsis,
Days 8-10: Agonize that said written hook and synopsis didn't capture the panache of said 103,000 novel (you know, that thing I've been working on DAILY for over a year and a half)
Days 8-16: Research other successful query letters that tickled a literary agent in the right place,
Days 17-20: Research back jacket blurbs of successful novels,
Days 17-20: Realize that most of them are weak and cliched, and wondered why someone couldn't have come up with something better,
Days 21-24: Trudge forward, rewrite said hook and tighten synopsis (think economy of words)
Day 25: Conclude that writing sucks, and wonder what possessed me to even engage in such insanity,
Day 25: Chide myself for experiencing self doubt, grab a grande white mocha from Starbucks and resolve to finish what I started,
Day 25: Realize that "writing" doesn't suck, but that "query writing" sucks,
Day 25: Admit that query writing doesn't suck, that it's just hard...just as hard as tackling a 103,000-word page-one rewrite...maybe harder,
Day 26: Decide to blog the experience for posterity.
Day 26: Query email time!