How to Publish in 12 Months or More

Writing fiction is wrenching and emotional. On some days, writing a novel is a hateful task, on other days it’s your reason to breathe. It’s hard work, for sure. And once it is conceived and started, it becomes parasitic in nature until it is finished.
But now that I’ve finished one, there’s a new hurdle.
I’m expected to publish it. After all, that’s what writers do. Why else go through all that agony and insecurity, sleeplessness, doubt, guilt and shame?
I can’t say that publishing was my motivation for writing the novel. It wasn’t. The prime motivation was to leave my family something of the inner me. I’m already leaving property. Maybe (if I don’t end up in a nursing home) even some money. But a novel is another kind of inheritance. I’d argue that it’s a richer kind.
Even so, I’ve started sending it to agents and publishers.
If you don’t have contacts, this process is like shooting arrows into a fog, hoping for a kill. Even if you do, it can be chance. Or fate.
So I’m going to give it a year. Or more. And keep posting.