Sometimes the Long Way Around is Best

There is no royal road to learning; no short cut to the acquirement of any art.

~ Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers


 Yeah...I had to learn this one the hard way :D Still learning this one the hard way. I like my short cuts....Just sayin' :D

See, I always think I can get away with scampering across the bridge instead of hiking down the canyon and back up again. My crit partners are generally in the middle of that bridge with big grins on their faces as they toss me over the edge and make me climb. But then, that's what good crit partners are there for :) And hey, at least they stick around to cheer for me as I make my way to the top. No matter how long it takes me.

Just when I think I have it all figured out, just when I think I can take a short cut here or there, just when I think I've got this whole writing business in the bag, something new smacks me upside the head and teaches me otherwise ;-)

I learn more and more with every book. I pick up new "tricks of the trade" and figure out new strengths and weaknesses. I get better and better. But there will always be something new to learn. I might figure out how to do something better, faster. But there are some short cuts that will just never work. There are some processes that work for other people that will never work for me (and vice versa).

Perhaps that is the most important thing I've learned = There are no short cuts and no magic "rules". Just hard work, the love of what I do, and the satisfaction of a job well done....no matter how long it takes me :D

Do you agree with Mr. Trollope? What have you learned while you strive to acquire your art?

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Sometimes the Long Way Around is Best

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More Things I Learned From My 7 Year Old

So much about surviving in this business depends on attitude. Rejections, critiques, reviews...they can all get to you if you don't have the right attitude about them. Keeping a positive attitude can be anything but easy.

But it is possible to have a positive attitude about anything if you choose. Something that was brought home to me as I watched my 7 year old open his presents on Christmas morning.

He's a cute kid on any morning, but this Christmas, he was so flippin adorable I almost couldn't stand it. He didn't stop smiling once, not even when things didn't really go the way he wanted.

For instance, he and his sister received desks (she for her art, he for his science and art projects). They were both very excited about them, and about the presents stacked on top. Now, these presents went along with their desks (they were filled with office supplies, crayons, markers, stickers, etc). And since they both always get in my computer paper for their projects, I thought having their very own stash of paper would be fun.

My son unwrapped his paper (it was the first present he unwrapped) and when he saw what it was, he said, "Oh you gotta be kidding! Paper?"

Now, he could have said this as "Oh you gotta be kidding, paper?" *insert sarcasm and exasperated eye roll*

But it was said with a laugh and a smile. He put the paper to the side (instead of chucking it across the room) and moved on. Some kids would have reacted with a much different attitude. (And he has since had a lot of fun with that paper, so it's all good) :D

My favorite moment of the day came a few minutes later as he was going through his stocking. He found a box of those storybook lifesavers (which Santa forgot he didn't care for). He held them up, smile from ear to ear, laugh in his voice, and said "Awesome I hate these!"

Now, I think he was saying "awesome" and then realized what it was and switched to "I hate these" - but either way, he didn't throw a fit, he didn't even look disappointed, he just put them down and moved on. And gave the rest of us a good belly laugh at the same time :D

It got me thinking. How do we react when something doesn't go our way in the writing world? What do we do when a request that looked so promising comes back with a rejection? What do we do when a manuscript we thought was clean and polished and ready to go comes back from a critiquing with so much red you can't see the white of the pages anymore?

I realize everyone is going to have a moment where they want to quit, hit delete and never write again, or shoot off a nasty email to the person who sent that rejection or critique. It's natural and totally understandable to feel supreme disappointment. We pour our hearts and souls into our work and it hurts when it doesn't make it.

You can't do anything about how other people view your work. You can't make an agent sign you, or make that editor buy your book, or make your crit partners send your manuscript with a big smiley face and a "PERFECT!" rating.

But you can politely thank your crit partners and move on, even if you cried yourself to sleep over their comments, even if you'll never use one of their suggestions. They took time away from their own work to read yours. Just say thank you with a smile on your face and move on.

Got a bad reject? STAY AWAY FROM THE REPLY BUTTON. Resist the urge to tell that agent/editor that they don't know what they are talking about. Maybe they don't. Maybe passing on your book will someday be the biggest regret they ever have. I'm sure the people who passed on Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling and John Grisham give themselves a little kick every now and then.

But it doesn't matter. This business is subjective in the extreme. Everything depends on getting the right book in front of the right person at the EXACT right time - over and over again. You can't control any of that. But you can control your attitude when disappointment comes your way. You can have a minute of mourning for the shiny possibility that didn't pan out....and then put a smile on your face and move on. Bigger and better things will be waiting for you if you have a good attitude and keep on going. A bad attitude will burn a lot of bridges and wear you down.

If my son and thrown a fit over the paper or the unwanted candy, Christmas morning would have been miserable for everyone. There were much better presents under the tree, more delicious candy in the toe of his stocking. But he never would have found that out if he'd stopped unwrapping after the first disappointment (and to be honest, his attitude about that paper was so good I'm still not sure if he was disappointed or not).

Bottom line - you are going to wade through a lot of coal before you get to the good stuff. Having a bad attitude about it will make the journey miserable for you and everyone you are involved with. A good attitude will make even crappy candy and stacks of computer paper a lot more fun, and it will make finally finding that shiny new bike under the tree a much more rewarding moment.

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! :) May our new year be filled with good attitudes and awesome rewards for hard work :)

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Dreams Undefeated

My mom sent me a inspirational article she'd found somewhere. The final line said:


The truth is, you're not defeated until your doubts and regrets take the place of your dreams.

I'm embroidering this on a pillow somewhere, tattooing it on my forehead, spray painting it on my office wall. Anything necessary to keep this in mind. Why? Because the reality of a writer can be tough. So often our doubts and regrets get in our way. It can be hard to push that send button, to give your manuscript to crit partners, to put it all out there when there is a very good chance it's going to get annihilated.

Are we going to get rejected?  You betcha.

Are we going to have crit partners hand us manuscripts that are so shredded the paper barely holds together?  Yep. Been there, done that, will do it again. Soon (love you guys) ;-D

Are we going to have agent after agent and publisher after publisher say "No thanks, it's not quite good enough?" Oh yeah. Frequently.

Will we have readers and critics hate our books and give us scathing reviews?  Definitely.

Do you have a file full of unfinished manuscripts that you've started and then banished to the dark recesses of your sock drawer?  Probably more than any of us would like to admit :)

Does all of this equal failure, collapse, DEFEAT?

Oh no. It most certainly does not. Why? Because no matter how many times we get knocked down, we get back up. We write more words. We send out more queries. We revise for the thousandth time and then we sit down and revise again. The more we do it, the better we get, the better our chances are of finally succeeding.

We are never out of the game unless we take ourselves out. Only when we are too afraid, too disappointed, or too pessimistic to continue on are we truly defeated. NO ONE can defeat you. Those rejections can't defeat you. Those bleeding red manuscripts aren't defeat. They are opportunities for improvement.

I've heard those who say that no matter how hard you try, you won't make it. The odds are too steep. There's too much competition. The market is too tough. And anyone who tells you otherwise is just being nice or overly optimistic. Well, all of that may be true.

But I know one thing for certain. I definitely won't make it if I stop trying. I was scared stiff to send my non-fiction book out to agents. I didn't have the platform. I had the experience but didn't have the "professional" background. I did it anyway. And I'm watching my dream come true. Someday, I'll see a novel with my name on it on those shelves as well. If it never happens, well, it won't be because I let my doubts get the best of me - because that would be something I'd regret the rest of my life.

The reality is, our chosen path is hard. It's downright brutal.

But the truth is, you're not defeated until your doubts and regrets take the place of your dreams.

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Ten Word Tuesday

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."


Richard Bach

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Ten Word Tuesday - on never giving up

Ever tried? Ever failed?...Try again. Fail again. Fail better.


~ Samuel Beckett

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An Interview and a Question - Is Talent Necessary?

First of all, I wanted to let everyone know that the awesome writing sisters over at Shooting Stars, Bethany Wiggins and Suzette Saxton, are hosting an Authorly Journeys Week. Several writers are hosting these interviews this week, for those who haven't seen them yet :) Today, Suzy and Beth have an interview with me posted. Head on over to their blog and be sure to stay a while! These ladies are two of the most talented writers I know :)

I came across these quotes the other day and they got me thinking. So I wanted to pick your brains about them :)

Quotes for the Day:


Real seriousness in regard to writing is one of two absolute necessities. 
The other, unfortunately, is talent.
~Ernest Hemingway


I see the notion of talent as quite irrelevant. I see instead perseverance, application, industry, assiduity, will, will, will, desire, desire, desire.
~Gordon Lish


Two great authors, two differing opinions. I tend to fall in the middle. I think you can get quite a ways with sheer hard work and stubbornness. I do firmly believe that if you don't have the drive, passion, and work ethic to put in the time it takes, no amount of talent is going to help you. Perhaps if you have really good editors, you can get away with not having any talent, but you still have to put in the work to get those editors. 


I guess, in a nutshell, I think they go hand in hand. You have to have the will and desire along with the talent. Perhaps the more talented among us have an easier time in some areas - maybe they don't have to revise as much or have an easier time coming up with fresh ideas or new ways of saying something. While I don't think that talent is irrelevant, I also think that busting your butt counts for a lot, and may make up for a lack of some talent.


So, what do you think? Can you be successful in this business if you have no talent but complete drive and passion? Can you be successful if you have the talent, but not the work ethic? 


And here's another question for you - can talent be learned, or perhaps replaced with experience and hard work? Or must you have at least a drop of talent in the blood you shed over your manuscripts?

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