Where Normal Need Not Apply
Ever heard the advice: “If you can stop writing, you should stop writing”? I’m here to say *pfft* to that. I gave up writing for years, yet I’m now a multi-published author. Choices we made about writing yesterday don’t determine today.
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Many times in our writing career—just as with life in general—we have to hurry up…and then wait. I’m in hurry-up-and-wait mode today. After running around to get everything ready, Treasured Claim is releasing tomorrow, and the next book, Pure Sacrifice, is already available for pre-order. But I hate waiting…
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There’s no “one right way” in publishing. We can probably all think of ways that don’t work, but there are often several paths that do lead to success. The same applies to encouragement advice. We often see two kinds of encouragement in the writing world: pushy and sympathetic. Either way can work, depending on who we are at this moment in time.
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We probably all have to-do lists rolling out behind us like Santa Claus’s naughty-or-nice list. Yet if you’re like me, your to-do list never seems to relent. Part of my problem is that I’m not as focused on my priorities as I should be, so let’s talk about 4 things we can do to keep our focus on our priorities.
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Many authors continue to blog writing or publishing advice after publication. But just as many authors stop blogging about anything other than release news tidbits for readers once they’re published. Let’s explore how and why we might decide to change our blogging style.
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Every month or so, there’s an author or blogger or journalist making news by putting romance stories down. “They give women unrealistic expectations!” they say. Right. Are they unrealistic because romances end with love and a Happily Ever After? Or do the naysayers think true love isn’t possible or that it isn’t powerful enough to conquer and overcome obstacles? That’s just sad.
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We often talk about how reading is subjective. But we don’t usually talk about how writing is subjective as well. The genres I enjoy writing and the stories I like to tell aren’t the same that others enjoy or like to write. That’s a good thing. If everyone wrote the same genre, readers looking for something new and different would be left out.
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One way we develop our characters is by figuring out their false belief: What lie do they tell themselves? Now the fun thing is to think about how that idea applies in the real world. Just like our characters, we tend to hold false beliefs and lie to ourselves as well.
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As we go through life, we often struggle to recognize our progress. That’s especially the case when life feels like a giant treadmill that goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing. Milestones are one way for us to mark our progress, and they’re also great for reminding us to stop and celebrate the little (or sometimes, not so little) things.
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At some point, we’re likely to run into negativity in our writing-lives. Feedback might be filled with cruel “give up” put-downs. We might be attacked by internet trolls. Reviews might rip apart us, personally, instead of focusing on our book. So the question then becomes, what are we willing to do to avoid it?
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