Behind the eight ball

I had a dream…a goal really. I wanted to publish a story every 6 months. That’s not too ambitious…right? I mean…what could go wrong? I have stories that I’ve finished and I just needed to give them one last look through/critique and then I would publish them and that…would be that.

God I’m delusional!

I am still critiquing the first few chapters of my next book and my dealine was MARCH! Do you know what month we are in now?

MAY!

Where is the time going? Seriously…who took it?

Deep breath…deeeeeeepppppp breath.

So I’m trying to crack the whip on myself, get motivated to do what I need to do. But’s it hard…no lie about that. I get distracted or stressed or just…lazy. I lose sight of my dream and go off on a tangent.

And I just want to say…it’s okay to do that.

Sometimes you need to get lost in order to find the way that’s going to work for you and there is no shame in that. It’s all part of the learning process, the growth that we have to do.

With that said…I have to go do some critiquing and editing.

Happy writing!

XO

Advice time

I know…I’m still a new writer and I can’t have too much advice to give.

Wrong!

I have learned a bit from my rejections, my critique partner, reading…just life in general and I think that some of the things I have picked up can be helpful to others.

1. Never stop. I do mean that literally. even when you are tired and you think that you just suck…keep going on. This applies to every aspect of life really, but especially in writing.
2. Keep reading. reading keeps the mind sharp, keeps you up on any “trends” and in general keeps the juices flowing. How many times have you read a book, a story and thought “What if I did…instead?”
3. Be kind and open. Parting of being a good writer is being open to new ideas, constructive criticism and things changing.
4. Be voracious. You have to want it…more than anything, even sleep.
5. Be selfish. There are going to be people who will not respect what you do. they will take advantage, disrespect or just not understand what you are trying to do. If you have to, carve out the time and turn everything off until you get that chapter finished.
6. Be firm and polite.
7. Ask questions…all the time. This keeps the juices flowing and the ideas fluid.
8. Shoot for the moon but keep you eye on the ground.
9. Be confident.
10. Stay humble
11. Be willing to sacrifice. IF this is your passion, nothing will stand in your way. There are of course things that are more important, but sometimes…writing will take 1st place. Be ready.
12. In the same vein…be willing to give. Some people won’t get it and you have to be understand and giving with them.
13. Keep distractions to a minimum. Facebook, Instagram, twitter, etc…At first they are fun, but then…days have gone by and you haven’t written a word.

Priorities or…

figuring out what comes first.

There are going to be times in your career when sacrifices will have to be made. Things that were important to you will have to take a back seat to this beast we call writing. It’s natural and expected, at least for the die hard writers. The trick, that none of us has mastered, is to know when to put writing first and when to put it on the backburner.

Around Christmas time, I had to take a break from writing. Actually, I’d taken it earlier, but it was official around that time. I just couldn’t writ anymore. It wasn’t fun, I wasn’t getting anything done and I’d started to hate myself for feeling that way. I had activities that I wanted to do, other crafts I wanted to get involved in, but I felt that I was cheating on my writing by doing them. The break helped me put things in perspective and find my center, or at least as close as I can come to it.

There is nothing wrong with saying that you need some you time. That you want to take a vacation and see the ocean. Don’t feel guilty because you don’t want to write anymore, that you don’t feel that spark. You may get it back, you may not, but forcing yourself to work at it until your eyes cross is not the way to make it work.

that is when setting priorities is important. You have to figure out what is important to you, what will make you happy and sane. Writing may be it, but so should family and friends and other activities. Don’t push them to the side because you think writing is all about writing and nothing else. You have to get inspiration from somewhere, right? How will you see it if you’re always at the computer, typing away.