Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Over-analyzers Anonymous

Hello, my name is Juanita, and I'm an over-analyzer.

*Hello, Juanita* (Yes, I did just speak for all you in the blogosphere. I hope you don't mind.)

So here's her story:
According to this blog I . . . I mean, she read (you know, the kind that stalks agents), she heard that Agent Super totally makes full requests on every query she gets on days with a Blue Moon.

So she did it, she waited until the next Blue Moon to submit, but then she didn't get a reply back within Agent Super's usual ten minutes, and by the time an hour had passed, she was totally freaking out! I mean, seriously!

Since she knows this Agent has impeccable taste, and she knows said Agent responds within minutes (according to the said blog), and that Agent Super ALWAYS requests a full on Blue Moon days, . . .

then the ONLY POSSIBLE conclusion is that her manuscript is HORRIBLE!

Yes, Juanita is an over-analyzer. She latches on to a little detail (which may or may not be true, depending on the context) and then lets her mind run with it. And of course, her mind uses LOGIC and "FACT"-BASED EVIDENCE to make conclusions that are sure to tear her self-esteem to shreds.

And there's no escaping it, because it's all sitting in that pretty little head of hers, and no matter how busy she may keep herself, her brain has this extra 90% that isn't being used, so it has plenty of room to keep analyzing, and analyzing, and analyzing, and analyzing, and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing,

and analyzing . . .

Well, you get the point. Poor Juanita.

Lucky for her, there IS a cure. But unlucky for her, I'm not sure what it is, so I'm hoping you all can help Juanita out . . . What do you do to keep your brain in check when it threatens to hi-jack your sense of reality?

*Note: Super Agent and Juanita are fictitious characters. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is a complete coincidence. Really.

17 comments:

Stina said...

I love your note at the bottom, Janet. :D

I'm bad for over analyzing too. And having a premium QT membership doesn't help either. I try to keep the super agent stalking to a minimum--especially when it comes to Twitter.

Angela said...

lol! Tell Juanita to write some poetry. That cures just about everything.

JE said...

Go to happy hour? Lol. If you find a cure, let me know. ;-)

~JD

Colene Murphy said...

I have to do something to get my mind off of it. Read a good book that I can't put down, watch a movie, go do something that requires lots of thinking.

Joanne said...

Distractions, distractions, distractions. Immerse yourself (I mean, herself) in some other writing project. Really jump in to the new writing, in such a way that you're (she's) lost in plot and characters and forgets all about the analyzing.

Laurel Garver said...

I have to agree with Angela here. Diving into a completely different form helps far more than a new fiction project. When query jitters attack, you may find your fiction confidence goes kaput. Poems do the soul good.

Also, multiple irons in the fire help you not obsess to much about any individual agent.

Lindsay said...

lol. I am a terrible over-analyzer. I find the only way to stop this is distractions. I read, do extra crits for my CPS, watch movies... anything that stops me thinking about getting a query back.

And chocolate helps. lol.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I am NOT Juanita. Really. Why do you ask? LOL. :-)

Jen said...

Too funny! I'm a pro at over-analyzing! When it gets really bad, the best thing for me to do is walk away. Literally. I'll go outside and take a walk, no matter what the weather. It helps me get a better grasp on things.

~Jen

Christopher said...

The solution to every writer's problem is more wine.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Christopher...more wine. :)

Lydia Kang said...

During over-analysis, I sometimes find that succumbing to the mundanity of a chocolate chip cookie does it for me.

Christina Lee said...

Um have we been separated at birth? This calls for a giant glass of wine! ((hugs))

Chris Phillips said...

I go for captain morgan over wine.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Lol!

Step away from the computer, Juanita!

No, but seriously, maybe this particular blue moon, Agent Super *happened* to be on vacation. You never know! :)

Amy

WritingNut said...

Ahh.. the story of my life! I over analyze far too much!

MikeS said...

Mom used to always tell me that I over-analyzed everything. After analyzing her observation, I dismissed it out of hand, coming to the obvious conclusion that "what do mothers know anyway."