The messy middle

( Kinda hate it, trying to love it.)

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One of my big projects for the year has been pitching more. I’m trying to send 100 pitches in 2023, and I’m up to 54, and so…I’m doing it!

Often, a pitch is met with radio silence.

Sometimes, there is a rejection. Occasionally it’s a nice rejection, which can feel weirdly heartening. It’s a reminder that at least somebody is on the other your email! And they care, at least enough to say no thank you.

And every so often, once in a blue moon, an editor says YES. Oh, the sweet sound of yes!

(Or, in this case, yes but…can we add this additional angle? And these additional perspectives?)

I was traveling in Burgundy a few months ago when I got a yes from a dream publication I had pitched, about a topic I care deeply about. It felt truly, in-the-pit-of-my-belly good.

We even had a chat on the phone about the direction the piece would take, and how I would think about the heart of the topic. I conducted a lot of interviews. I thought. I brainstormed. I plotted. I wrote. I sent it in!

And then the editor said - actually, could we take a different angle?

I was bummed. After all, we had discussed the story in depth, and I had already put a lot of work into it. But it was a dream pub after all, and a topic close to my heart, and so I reworked the article. I went back to the drawing board. I brainstormed. I plotted. I wrote. I sent it in again!

And then…you guessed it. Actually…

We’ve gone back and forth like this a few times. So last night, when I got another email - could we add a different kind of source? Could we rethink this section? My heart sank.

But, I took the next action. I went back to my notes, and found a potential source that might do the trick. I rewrote the section. I hit send.

Here I am, in the messy middle.

I hate the messy middle.

I want the article all finished, signed, sealed, and delivered, in glossy print, with my byline at the top. I want the money in my bank account and the link in my bio. The painstaking work in the rearview mirror.

I’m looking at the rest of my work for my day and week ahead. I’m deep in the middle of a long copywriting project, and I’m waiting to hear back from some people about potential things, and I’m planning my first class with my writing teacher hero Dinah, which starts in a few weeks.

I’m realizing that most of my work things are in that messy middle.

Most of everything is in the messy middle.

Life is messy middle.

Beginnings and endings feel finite, and satisfying, and wrapped up with a pretty bow. But they wouldn’t feel that way without all the (good, bad, weird, hard, wonderful) stuff in between, would they?

What am I afraid of? I’m afraid that the editor will say never mind, and the story won’t run, and all my work/time/stress will be for naught. But even if that does happen, which is still a possibility, life will go on. There will be more assignments, and more publications, and even more dream publications.

Maybe, most likely, it will run, and perhaps it will be even better thanks to all these edits, edits, and more edits. Maybe it will be DAMN GOOD. Maybe it will make a difference to somebody.

Maybe!

I’m trying to appreciate the messy middle, because that’s where the magic is.

Hi from the messy middle! I hope you’re.enjoying it here, at least a little bit.

xo,

Hannah

PS Want to workshop your pitch and talk all things pitching? Join me and Hannah Selinger for our next pitch workshop on September 5. Our last two were sold out, so grab your seat. There’s an early bird discount, too.

PPS How gorgeous is my snazzy new banner? It’s the work of the talented Jane Kronenberg.