Moving Forward - Editing

The next step with my book is sending it to an editor. I will be honest that step scared me to death. I took two extra weeks going over it again adding things and telling myself it’s not ready.

If you’re writing a book, please do not do this to your self. Set deadlines and send your book on.

For me not submitting my stories has been a big issue with me. I get scared and put them in the closet telling myself, they aren’t ready.

I have five books in the closet that I said aren’t ready. This year I decided I was taking them out of the closet and have one last look before I submit them to an editor.

They will never see another reader’s eyes if I don’t get them out of my closet.

Moving forward is my mantra this year and I will move forward even it means knocking my own self over the head to get past my fears.

Are you moving forward with your writing?

Writing Fears: Choosing To Self Publish

Self publishing has always been in the back of my mind, since I started writing. I met a lot of writers who are indi publishers and I’ve always admired their courage to take their writing into their own hands.

I think what has stopped me was I’m from the old school of writing wanting some big publisher to say they loved my book and give me a big check to publish it. Yeah I had that dream for years.

As I learned more about the business, I found out why a lot of people were publishing their own books. Mainly they didn’t want to sit and wait on someone to tell them their book was good enough. They believed in their work and was willing to step out and let others make their own judgment.

When you’re dealing with fear, stepping out is the last thing you want to do. You want to keep telling yourself, someone will buy your book. What you’re not telling yourself is that they won’t buy it if you don’t finish it or if you don’t submit it. For years I was that girl saying I’m writing, but not saying I’m not submitting.

I was scared to death to submit my work.

This weekend I realized I was scared to death to self publish it too.

I’m working with a business coach, LaTara Bussey and she said to me, LaShaunda you been working on this book for a while. You need to set a release date. My mind screamed, “are you crazy, no way”

It was easier to say I’m working on a book, than to sit down and schedule my book release.

Am I really ready to put myself out there?

Am I ready to see my dreams come true?

Yes

I’m still scared but I’m not going to let that stop me.

September 9th is my release date.

OMG I just wrote the date.

Pray for me because I’m starting a new journey in my life. I’m afraid but I’m holding on to the Lord’s hand this time. He will guide me every step of the way.

FEAR – get out of my way. I have dreams to work on.

Stay tune, this journey is interesting. Next week I’ll tell you what not to do when you thinking about book covers.

Why did you choose to self publish?

Writing Fears: Choosing To Write

We all have choices. We can choose to watch t.v. every day and not write. We can choose to hang out with our friends every weekend and not write. We can go to the gym or do other things and avoid writing. We can talk on the phone until the wee hours and not write.

These are the choices that we make. As a writer you have to make the choices that are best for you when it comes to writing. You have to decide what is important and what is not important when it comes to your writing. Then you have to schedule a timeframe so you can write.

I’m trying to do better with my own choices. I have let the outside world take over when it comes to my writing. Because I’m not published I sometimes feel like what’s the use I’ll write when I feel like it. However I can’t get to publication if I continue with this attitude.

I have to put myself on a schedule so I can learn what deadlines are and how to meet them. When I do become a published author there will be times I don’t want to write, but I will have to and I no longer have the excuse of I don’t feel like it to back me up.

The procrastination has to end. I have to write. This year one of my goals was to write twice a week on this blog. I wanted to get into the habit of writing on a schedule.

I also created a calendar for working on my manuscripts and its working for me. I can finally see an end. When I didn’t have a schedule it felt like I was writing in circles.

I do have choices and this time I choose to write.

What are you choosing to do that’s getting in front of your writing?

2014 WORD - FEAR

This year I chose the word Fear as my word of the year.

I’ve decided to conquer the word in my life. I’ve let it stop me from pursuing my dreams and I’m no longer going to let it rule of my being.

I will write about my fears because sometimes if you talk about them you can get past them.

1st fear – Not good enough

I think this fear popped up with the first rejection and it continued to grow as I continued to write and submit my ideas. As a writer you don’t know if anyone will like your stories until you let them read them. For years I kept my stories in the closest. The first book I wrote for years because I didn’t have a clue about submitting. When I was stationed in San Diego I found found a copy of Writer’s Digest at a book store,  that began my lessons on learning to write. I learned you had to submit to be able to get published.

I submitted a query letter to Harlequin, this was the time before AA romances, so I was sent a form letter saying they weren’t looking for these type of books. I was devastated and that’s when the first fear crept in.

Looking back at this I can say the good thing about this rejection was that it made me move to the next book. An idea about another story popped in my mind and I spent many evenings and weekends in front of my word processor.

Fear can stop you from trying new things and I’m thankful I didn’t let it stop me from writing. The words continued to come even though I was worried they weren’t good enough.

I will admit this fear is still inside, but I’m learning to get past it.

Do you ever feel like your words aren’t good enough? How do you get past the fear?

MARCH Writing Challenge

I completed the writing challenge with 20,000 words. Not bad for one month of writing.  I was very proud of myself because I did a few thing I've never done with my writing.

I started a book from the beginning and worked toward the end.  I plotted the whole book.  I learned it’s hard to write every day, but if I have to, I can.

My lessons learned from this challenge:

You have to motivate yourself:  Writing is a career you do by yourself, if you don't believe in your own writing, who will. 

Team motivation is wonderful:  I did this challenge with my writing group and they were amazing with their encouraging words for each other. Some days reading how they were coming along, encouraged me to continue on.  It’s nice to have someone cheering you on.

Believe in yourself:  Especially on the days when you think your writing sucks.  I heard a quote from Dora the fish in Finding Nemo - Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

I created my own - Just keep writing, just keep writing.    Some days you wonder why you do all of this because no one will ever read your writing.  You say those words to yourself, just keep writing, just keep writing.  One day the writing will be worth it.

Write even when you don’t feel like it:  This is hard when you're not a published author.  I usually write when the muse hits.  However that will change when I become a published writer.  Writing on deadline is a term you hear a lot from published authors.  You can't write when the muse hits.  You have to write even when you don't feel like it.  This month there were a few days I didn't feel like it.  Sometimes I didn't write, which cost me in my daily word count.  There were days when I didn't feel like it but I pushed on and wrote.  I think some of those days were some of my best writing.

Read a good book to motivate you:  I made the mistake of agreeing to this challenge, when I'd also agreed to judge some books.  The good thing about the books I was reading, is they inspired me to write.  I wanted to be able to tell a good story like the books I was reading.

Writing challenges aren't for everyone, but I do believe they are helpful for jumpstarting your writing.  It helps you create goals and how to work toward them.

What did you learn from the writing challenges you participated in?

Moving Past The Fear

Part of my moving past my fear was letting someone else read my story. I asked two friends to read it. Both are editors, so I value their comments.

The first one read it in one night. She loved the story and the main characters. OMG. My sagging ego needed to hear that. She agreed it needed some help to make it shine.

My second friend agreed to edit it, so I’m in the editing stage. Next month I will start the revision stage. I’m excited and nervous to see what she has to say. I’ve told myself, I can handle the criticism because it will make my story a better story and that’s what I want.

As I go on this new journey in my life, I will keep you posted. I’m so ready to get past my fear and see my dream of a book with my name on the cover come true.

How do you move past your fears?

Challenges

I’ve decided to start the New Year with two challenges, an exercise challenge and a personal challenge.  I decided to do both because I wanted to change some of my habits this year.  I needed a little exercise in my life and I thought the squat challenge would be the way to start without feeling overwhelmed.

As you know 2012 was a rough year for me so I signed up for the Starting Over Challenge to see if I could get my mind back on track.  I didn’t know what to expect from this challenge, but I was willing to learn.

We had our first phone call and I realized I was starting on a new journey with this challenge.  One of our assignments was to write out a statement.

I want to lose ----- to gain ----

I didn’t do the assignment because I didn’t know what I wanted to lose or gain.  As I read over the groups posts I realized I wasn’t ready to face what I wanted to lose or gain.  For every other post, someone was ready to lose FEAR.  You know my history with that word.  I wasn’t ready to admit that was my issue too.

After the call, I was ready to admit, that I’d let that word creep back into my soul last year.  It popped up when I received the yes for my historical.  It slowly took over me as I read over the story.  You’re not ready it kept whispering to me.  No one will like this story.  No one will buy this book.  I slowly let the words, stop me from moving forward.  I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was scared, instead I told myself the book wasn’t ready.  I missed my own deadline and almost convinced myself that I wasn’t going to submit it.  Thank God for writing friends, who refuse to let me wallow in my fear.  They kept questioning me on my progress.  I didn’t want to say I wasn’t doing anything, so I kept pressing pass the fear.  I finally submitted it to a reader and I beat the fear.

This morning I decided I was ready to admit what I was ready to lose.

I want to lose FEAR to gain SUCCESS IN WHAT EVER I WANT TO ACHIEVE.

I’m ready for the New Year and these new challenges.  I’m also ready to move pass my fear.  I know it will always pop up in my life, but I also know it is a symptom, that I have to learn how to treat.

What new challenges are you trying this year?

Keeping Appointments

I’m pretty good at keeping my appointments with others.  I know how important time is to others so I try my best to make my appointments.

However I don’t keep them with myself.  I’ve been trying to make time to write so I can finish this book and submit it.  I find myself doing other things.  Too tired to read or think.

A writer friend, Shelia Goss told me to make an appointment with myself.  I giggled to myself.  I do that all the time.  I even went so far as to create an alarm on my phone.  It wasn’t helping though because I was ignoring it.  I put something else in place of it.

Sunday I made an appointment with myself to write.  This time I showed up on time and I stayed longer than I’d set the appointment for.  I wrote and it felt good.

What did I learn from this? To keep my own appointment.  I’m important and so is my time.  Appointments are important if you want to complete a goal.  I have a big goal to submit this book by the end of September. I will keep my goal and I will continue to keep my appointments to me.

How are you at keeping appointments for yourself?

Are You Excited About Your Writing?

I love working with Independent Authors.  They are so excited about their new book it's contagious.  They have this vision on where their book is headed and there is no stopping them on the Buy My Book Train.

When I talk to them it makes me more excited about my own writing.  I’m inspired to keep on pushing because I know from their example there is an end to this madness.  One day there will be a published book.

Here are three ways to get excited about your book?

Write often – When you’re writing about your characters on a daily basis you get excited to see what adventure they are going to take you on.

Talk about your story – When you tell people about your story, your enthusiasm flows through. You’re telling someone about what you’ve created and it gets the excitement bubbling inside again.

Believe In your book - Independent Authors knows their book is going to be the next best seller.  There is nothing you can say or do to change their minds.  You can feel their excitement as they share how they are going to reach every book buyer in the world.  They believe in their book.  Do you believe in your book?  Do you see your book on the shelves? 

When I first started writing, I would go to the book store and find the spot where my book would be.  Back then it was under the Cs for Carruth.  Now I’m a little further down in the Hs.  I still can picture it because I believe in my book.

Are you excited about your writing or you in a slump wondering why do you do this to yourself everyday and for what?

Finding Time To Write

You all know I’ve been going through some storms, lost my mother last year, my sister in July and my cousin this month. It’s been rough but I’ve been trying to deal with my grief and not let it consume me.

Finding the time to write when you’re in a funk is not easy. I’m not a morning person however I’ve been getting up an hour before work to work on my SORMAG stuff. It actually worked out well for me because no kids means silence. I can get what I need done quickly and then be ready for work. I usually write for two hours in the evening then go to bed.

That has all changed because school is back in. This year I have a high schooler, a seventh grader and a kindergartner. My hour earlier goes to my high schooler because she has to be at the bus stop by 6. I’ve been trying getting up at 5 to do what I need to do and it’s been crazy because she’s up and asking questions, wanting breakfast and I’m not being very productive.

I’m getting the SORMAG stuff done, but my writing is suffering. Getting up this early means I’m exhausted doing all my mother things after work. By nine my mind is fried. I’m not writing. All I want to do is crawl in the bed and not move.

I have to figure out something because I can’t finish revising this story is my mind is fried. I plan on working this weekend to get some writing done. I try not to write on the weekend because those are my free days to hang with the family and do my chores.

However I see I’m going to have to sacrifice that time and my sleep if I want to complete the revision and meet my September deadline.

Writing and real life can be tough at times. Sometime you have to make sacrifices but I do believe in the end it will be worth it to see my name on the book cover.

How do you make time to write when life is pulling you all over?

WRITING JOURNEY: FINISHING YOUR GOALS

One of my biggest issues is finishing. I get all excited about a project then something else comes up and I'm off on that one. This month I decided I wanted to finish then move on to the next project.

I’m currently working on a manuscript and I’m doing the final read through before I hand it over to my beta reader. I’ve let everything get in front of it and before I knew it, January was over and I’m now into February.

The other day I read a post from Michael Hyatt who wrote about prioritizing your to do list. He offers some good advice that I used last week and it really helped me see what I need to do first and what I could work on later.

First you write down your to do list, then you go down the list and mark it with the following.

A – Urgent and Important
B – Important Not Urgent
C- Urgent not Important
D – Not urgent or important

This helped me a lot to see where I was messing around with and what I seriously needed to tackle. I thought I’d share it with you.

Do you have a system that works for you on completing your goals for the day?

The Writing Journey - Is It Ever Finished

On one my writing groups the question was asked When do you know when it is finished?

I have to admit, this was my problem for years. I didn’t know when the manuscript was finished.  I’d re-edit and re-edit.

I learned that my fear of rejection kept me from sending it out, so I never could find out if it was finished or if it was on its way to finish.

Now I’m moving forward and giving myself deadlines, which helped me a lot.  I’ve wrote other books instead of just working on one book for years.  I didn’t want to be a one book writer.

I’ve learned that the book is never finished, there is always room for improvement, however you have to let go.  Let someone else read it, take in their suggestions and then send it out.

When do you know your book is finished?

The Writing Journey – FINISHED MY GOAL

I completed my 2011 writing goal January 6^th.   I wanted to finish editing my manuscript so I could send it to a beta reader.  My goal for December was to finish the read thru.  A week later I was done and pleased with the story.  I saw few things I wanted to correct, but over all I thought it turned out to be a good story.  Here’s hoping the reader feels the same way.