What’s In Being A Contracted Author?
Our computers (Photo credit: aranarth)
Fear.
Yep, I said that.
Getting a publishing contract is everything you’ve wanted, everything you’ve worked your ass off for, and when you sign on the dotted line, everything you’re afraid of.
It’s a truth I think a lot of authors keep under wraps because some days when you sit staring at your story, the one that has a deadline attached to it now, the one that needs to be as close to perfect as you can make it—some days, it can feel like you’ve signed yourself up to fail. The days when nothing makes sense and you wonder who in their right mind, including yourself, ever thought your story could actually sell. The days when fear seeps in and hangs on.
From the legalese of contracts, to the swell of accomplishment in your chest that is almost immediately replaced by the tightening of panic, to the real edits and real deadlines, being a contracted, and soon to be published, author is both thrilling and terrifying.
But, in those split seconds when rays of light shine through the blinds in your mind, it is incredibly gratifying. The times when, for once, there are no blue, red, or green edits marking up your pages and your comments come back with “Great!” instead of “Huh?” or “Powerful.” instead of “Make it clearer.” Those are the days when every drop of doubt and ounce of fear is worth it. The days when you’re proud as hell. Maybe they’re far and few between, but those rays of light keep the writing fire burning bright and remind you that you should feel proud, maybe even excited–even if only for a second. 😉
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It Is Impossible To Live Without Failing …
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
~j.K. Rowling
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You Have To Dream …
“You have to dream intentionally. Most people dream a dream when they are asleep. But to be a writer, you have to dream while you are awake, intentionally.”
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Thankful …
I am thankful for the gift of words, the gift of insight and imagination. For my love of books and the ability to spend hours reading them.
For friends who stand by me, even when they think I’ve lost my mind, or disagree with every decision I make. You keep me upright.
For my family and their unyielding encouragement throughout my life. I would be lost without you.
For my health and sanity.
My ability to run again after my second round of physical therapy.
For music that vibrates my core and spills through me with every beat.
For my cherished memories of times and people past. I miss you.
For the chill of Autumns approach and the fall of red bruised leaves.
For all the gifts I cherish and hold dear in my life, I am truly grateful.
And of course for all of you who read, listen, like, comment and care about what I have to say, even when it’s utter nonsense. Thank You for listening.
Thanksgiving Turkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Anything Is Possible …
“Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
~ J. K. Rowling
English: J. K. Rowling, after receiving an honorary degree from The University of Aberdeen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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The Treasure That You Seek
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.”
Joseph Campbell (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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If You Don’t Have The Drive …
A writer never finds the time to write. A writer makes it. If you don’t have the drive, the discipline, and the desire, then you can have all the talent in the world, and you aren’t going to finish a book.
Nora Roberts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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- Nora Roberts’ happily-ever-after life (cbsnews.com)
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Everyone Has Talent …
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.
~Erica Long
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It’s Always Too Early …
“It’s always too early to quit.”
–Norman Vincent Peale
Norman Vincent Peale, Christian preacher and author of The Power of Positive Thinking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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What Are You Afraid Of?
Judgement.
It’s every new writers nightmare. The reason so many hide their stories away.
What if no one likes my book? What if I only think I can write…but really, I can’t!
Oh, god, people are going to judge me.
BUT…..
A quote by Bruce Patrick
WRITE ON, WRITERS.
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It Is Necessary To Write
It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.
~Vita Sackville-West
English: Vita Sackville-West, ancient style (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Imagination Is More Important…
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Virginia Dare
~Michael Scott — The Warlock
Michael Scott promotional photo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Of course it is happening inside your head…
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
― J.K. Rowling ~~The Deathly Hallows
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The Only Reason For Being A Professional Writer…
The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it.
~Leo Rosten
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Sometimes When I Think…
Sometimes when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe.
English: Truman Capote (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Publishing Thrill Ride
English: Coca-Cola Thrill Ride This was a ride at the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. This death-defying,loop the loop,rollercoaster trip was not for the faint-hearted! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I am elated. Elated!
That’s all I’m going to say. More to come. Soon, I hope. 😉
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The Publishing Roller Coaster
A few days ago I received an email. A request for my manuscript in full to be sent to a publishing house I queried. And then I received another one.
YES!
Am I thrilled? Absolutely.
Do I feel terrified and on the verge of throwing up? Definitely.
I remember the feeling of accomplishment I felt when I completed TIED. Edits, beta readers, and all. It was as if a weight lifted off my shoulders. For about an hour. Maybe.
A few weeks later, I queried my first publisher with shaking hands, and terror replaced accomplishment. Still, I sent it anyway. I had to. All of us writers have to. This whole process is well…part of the process. I think we need to go through it. It makes us a little stronger.
Now, after sending off my baby that I’ve loved and coddled for two years, I have a different sense of accomplishment. One that is mixed with the discomfort of judgement. The word all writers hate. But you know what? It’s a great feeling. It is. Because whether or not they decide to take my book on, they believed enough — and saw enough — to give it further than a glance. And although this could be the only elation I feel in a long run of disappointments — I plan to appreciate it for what it is — THE BEST FEELING I’ve had since I jumped on this roller coaster ride of writing.
I love what I do. And I’m thankful to be doing it. Even more thankful, too, that my betas also love my stories and I’ve been given a small pat on the back by yet another interested party. That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day. Wish me luck. 😉
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When What You’re Most Afraid Of…
When what you want most is what you’re most afraid of…go for it anyway.
~L. McMann
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Never Let A Manuscript…
“You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you’re working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success – but only if you persist.”
– Isaac Asimov
Dr. Isaac Asimov, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly right, 1965 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Make Your World Breathe
Just breathe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is no such thing as too much description. Okay, maybe later on when you’re a few drafts in some details will need to be scaled down. But in the beginning when you are just writing, just write. Tell your story and every little detail that you see in your mind. First drafts need to be loaded with details. There will be too many but come draft two and three you can pick and choose what’s important enough to stay and what needs to go. And through those changes your story will start to become alive.
Every character in your story needs a voice and I don’t only mean the ones who can talk. I mean EVERY character. The buildings, the car, the woods, the town. The world you’ve created needs to breathe. It needs life. Life in writing is created through details. The edge in someones voice, the creak of a clock tower, the feel of a touch, the sweetness of a flower. The ripped, faded jeans. The wickedly flirtatious smile. The racing blood. The charred forest. The reader needs to see it, taste it, feel it, hear it and know it. They want to walk in the world you create, to feel what the characters feel.
I think we all can get caught up in writing dialogue. It is no doubt, extremely important but at the end of the day, if all you have is dialogue, where’s the setting? Why does the reader care if he can’t see your characters sitting on the hillside, or fighting in the alley? The only way to create your world is to give it a personality of its own. Give it an identity and make it come alive in the minds of all who read it.
WRITE ON, WRITERS!
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The Difference Between Writers And Other People
You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.
~Neil Gaiman
English writer Neil Gaiman. Taken at the 2007 Scream Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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Art Is The Lie…
“Art is the lie that tells the truth.”
~ Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso (Photo credit: marie-ll)
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What Makes A Writer
“I should think it extremely improbable that anyone ever wrote simply for money. What makes a writer is that he likes writing. Naturally, when he has written something, he wants to get as much for it as he can, but that is a very different thing from writing for money.”
~P G Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse, Bolton’s friend and collaborator (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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