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Filed in: blog | writing Tags: motivation | rsswwf
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Blogging about the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood’s Winter Writing Festival and how I’m trying to stay motivated.
For me, it all starts with this question: How Much Do You Want This?
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Filed in: blog | writing Tags: motivation | writing advice
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Lately I’ve heard a lot of self-doubt coming from the writerspace. Doubts and fears about finishing a book, about making it good enough. A lot of people are trying their hand at writing or at least coming out of the woodwork, which is great. I think writing makes you a more reflective person, whether or not you publish. And it’s never a bad thing to have more thinking people.
Usually I try to assure them to write forward, get through the first book, gain that confidence of writing “The End”, the rest will come with revisions, have faith, etc.
Maybe I’m softballing it, because the advice that works for me is actually quite different than what I’ve been peddling. It comes in two different forms, one from my mother and one from Nora.
I heard Nora Roberts speak at RWA National conference in Dallas and her advice was simple: “You have to want it.”
My mom’s words of sympathy are even better. “I guess you’re not creative enough.”
Mum is actually extremely motivating and supportive, but it doesn’t translate to the page at all. 
Will I lose my nice gal reputation if I tell other people what works so well for me? It takes a lot less breath to say, “Well, do you want to be a writer or not?”
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Filed in: blog | guest blogs | writing Tags: exercise | motivation
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The Golden Heart group from ’07 invited me over for a fun little blog about how I tricked myself into finishing the latest WIP (also known as the CFB, my crappy first book. But no longer. Now it’s my shiny new book.)
Come on by so I don’t look so lonely?
Antidote for the Winter Writing Blues at Nobody Writes It Better
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Filed in: blog | writing Tags: motivation | pre-writing | running
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Things have been in flux lately and it’s been a challenge to clear the cobwebs out of my head to write. In Catch-22 fashion, a bunch of those cobwebs have to do with nerves over some publication milestones I’m waiting on. Whenever I’m in distress I fall into old habits and search for creature comforts like Linus with his blue blanket. (more…)
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Filed in: writing Tags: motivation | self-doubt | writing goals
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There’s been a lot of self-doubt threads around lately and I always shy away from them. Self-doubt is a constant for writers, I suppose. I feel it all the time. I fret and I worry. I whine with the best of them. Somehow I just have to separate it from the actual process of writing. I complain about my day job over margaritas as well, and then I go back the next morning and do it. Writing’s the same — but better. I don’t get the same self-indulgent high from my day job.
Some might say it’s so personal and that’s why the fear is so great. Oh no…don’t do that to yourself. I am a master of the mind game! This is a personal journey and you make up the rules you operate by. Why set parameters that put you in the loser’s circle? Define rules of the game that empower you, not weaken you.
What do I mean? When I was teaching, a lot of teachers fell into the trap of thinking these kids are too far gone. They’ve had years of bad schooling, weak parenting, the school system is screwed, etc. It’s what we call in teaching the “deficit model” but I expanded it beyond just looking at the students to my whole outlook. You can’t win if you start from behind like that. Why don’t you consider instead that you have one hour a day with these kids? They can’t turn the channel, they can’t go to their rooms. One hour of undivided attention is more than some of their parents get. Take that one hour and work it hard.
Maybe this book won’t ever sell, but that’s out of my hands. I’m going to walk these halls like a rockstar and the rest will come. What else can I do?
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Filed in: friends and family | slice of life | writing Tags: harry potter movie | motivation | random musings | revision | the dragon and the pearl | writing
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Poking my head out for a minute…
Is the Harry Potter movie still out? I lost track of it after mum stood me up in Vegas to play the penny slots instead of going on a movie date with her dear daughter.
“Bah!” I could hear her saying. “You can watch Harry Potter anywhere.”
Back to the cave. I’m supposed to start fast drafting a novella today and I need to ship the D&P manuscript to Little Sis along with some form of bribe. Nothing edible. The last bribe was a disaster when the squeezable bottle of condensed milk busted open in the box. Don’t ask. Little Sis likes condensed milk — just not all over manuscript pages when she’s critiquing them. Maybe that’s why she panned everything from Chapter 12 on…
I think I’ll go see Harry Potter this weekend if I can get this novella drafted.
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Filed in: publishing | writing Tags: motivation | publishing challenges
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I received comments back from an editor who placed me first in a contest. Despite overwhelmingly positive feedback, the response is threatening to throw me into a tail spin.
Without going into gory details, I must reaffirm:
- I knew this was going to be hard when I started
- I couldn’t have written these stories in any other place, they are what they are
- It’d be this hard no matter what
- The real reason is that the writing’s not good enough yet (believe it or not, this is here to cheer me up)
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Filed in: publishing | writing Tags: motivation | nathan bransford | publishing challenges | recession
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This week, I slipped into a moment of fear and doubt. Fear and doubt is common in my Adventures in Romance, but I’ve tried to keep myself from using the market as an excuse. I’ve pretty much heard from Day 1 how hard it is to try to go outside of the tried and tested boundaries of romance, but this week agent Nathan Bransford reiterated that fact in his post about the current recession and difficulties in the publishing market:
Nathan Bransford – Stepping up your game
I enjoy NB’s blog immensely and have developed a bit of an agent crush on him. (Which is nothing against my lovely agent! It’s just an internet thing.) His tone is thoughtful, even-keeled and optimistic — while also being realistic. He’s super knowledgeable and open with advice. So when NB expounded on my deepest publishing fear, my heart sank a little.
According to NB: “Publishers right now want the surest of sure things that are so sure it beats surety over its sure head. And agents have to adjust what they take on accordingly.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this news either, but there are very few sure bets in this business. So editors have to be really really really really really really convinced that they want to invest in a project in order to take it on, particularly for debuts, and particularly particularly for previously published authors with a mixed track record.”
It’s nothing I haven’t heard. Nothing that everyone isn’t saying, but — *sigh*. If I was writing something tried and true, I could just as easily bemoan that everyone says they want something fresh. It’s a losing game. The only way to win, is not to play.
Nathan did go on to say as writers, all that should tell us is that we need to step up our game. I like that part. I’m going to stick to that, put my pollyanna attitude back on, and ignore how hard it’s supposed to be.
Stolen from Dumb and Dumber:
Jeannie: Just give it to me straight! The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
NY: Not good.
Jeannie: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
NY: I’d say more like one out of a million.
[pause]
Jeannie: So you’re telling me there’s a chance!
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Filed in: book reviews | events | friends and family | miscellaneous | slice of life | The Bookshelf | travel | writing Tags: motivation | rewards | shoe shopping
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 In celebration of finishing my draft and sending it out to be worked over by Little Sis, I went out yesterday for a massage and bought a pair of slinky little shoes to wear at conference.
Yes, I do dream about one day doing this for a living. When the time comes, I’ll have to put the pedal to the metal and just get it done because I want to eat. But in the meantime, there’s a lot of things that can make you feel down during the journey to publication so why not create some reasons to feel up?
Tonight it’s back to work now that all the knots are worked out of my neck and shoulders. How do you reward yourself?
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Filed in: craft | miscellaneous | writing Tags: motivation | revision | romance through the ages contest | silk and seduction | writing goals
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I’ve been lazy since the honeymoon and the excitement of pairing up with an agent. Instead of revising, I’ve been spending my “writing” time beta-reading and critiquing. I’ve got two full manuscripts to do by this weekend!
But that’s just my excuse. I really need to get to revising “Silk and Seduction” by Nationals. Some good news is it finaled in the Romance Through The Ages contest. That means that “Silk” has finaled every time I’ve flung it into the contest arena.
It’s quite different from the other two. The characters are a bit more complex. I think I’ll learn a lot from the revision process this time.
So here we go…page 1.
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