I saw this quote over the weekend and thought it was so apropos for writers.
"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears." - Les Brown
My dream from a very young age was to be a published writer. And I did that. But making my dream to make writing my career was scary. It's scary for me because writing is like giving something of myself for the public to scrutinize and criticize. And deep down I feel insecure about a lot of things, like whether my skin is thick enough to take whatever comes.
After having seven books published, I've realized a lot of things about myself. I know I love writing and that it fulfills me. I know I'm a better person to be around when I have a little writing time to myself every day. I know that I work best when I have deadlines and a critique group, and I've learned my skin is a little thicker than I thought. (Still, though, my heart always drops a bit when I see two star reviews. But I'm learning to suck it up as part of the business.)
This month, for JumpStartWriMo, I dreamed big. I made a goal to finish my deep revision and start my new book. I'm not going to reach that goal by July 1st, (unless I lock my family and all my other responsibilities in the basement or something. Yeah, probably not gonna happen) but I'm so happy with the progress I've made so far and I can't wait to get to the weekend so I can look back and see my accomplishment. (And I'm going to do another sprint this Wednesday, so I hope you all come.)
But, as I said above, I know I work best with a deadline, so I am giving myself until midnight on June 30 to finish my deep revision of this book. I'm going to at least finish one of my goals for the month. And I'm going to reward myself by buying Betsy Brannon Green's new book, Murder by the Way, or Melanie Jacobson's new book, Twitterpated (depending on my mood) if I reach my goal.
And I'm going to offer a prize to you, my JumpStartWriMo friends as well. Go back and look at what your goal was on June 1st. Make a goal to finish it or a major part of it by midnight June 30th. If you put in the comments what you accomplished, I will send you whatever book I don't reward myself with, (either Murder by the Way or Twitterpated) and reward you with it instead! And in addition, I think we should have some sort of online party to celebrate how we did, don't you think?
So let's get going this week. Don't live your fears. We can do this! We are awesome! We are WRITERS!
I'm an award-winning romantic suspense novelist, but in my free time I love to review books and my fave TV shows, as well as pass along great book deals, and eat Canadian chocolate---not necessarily in that order.
7 comments:
I think I've already reached the goal that I set on June 1st. I've finally come up with a new idea for a new story, and I've even started writing. I'm looking forward to the Wednesday sprint again, and I think having an online party to celebrate what we've achieved so far is a great idea!
My goal was to write 50K words this month. I haven't reached that goal yet, but I'm leaving tomorrow for a writer's retreat up in the mountains of Show Low, Arizona with 20 or so other writers. Can I actually write with that many other women around me? Dunno, but I'm going to give it my best shot.
Since I'm not going to be around Internet access while in a mountain cabin Wednesday thru Saturday, I won't be able to participate in your sprint, but I'm glad to see Melanie excited about joining you. Hopefully Janice will, too.
We are WRITERS! Hear us Roar! Oh, wait, that's not right. Hear us tap?
Ooh, Melanie, I'm so excited for you. Yay! Wednesday is always fun with friends. :)
Debra, I'm going to MISS you! I know you'll have a great time,though. I'm jealous. And yes, definitely, HEAR US TAP! :)
I have a new dream: I want a bulletproof vest with the word WRITER on the back.
I'm doing pretty bad on my stated goal, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. I consider the month a personal success already! (Jon starts air guitaring the opening of Eye of the Tiger) Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them aliiiiive!
I feel the same way about sharing part of myself with other people. Writing is scary! So I'm so thankful to have encouragement from people like you (even though I didn't do the writer's challenge :(. )
Jon, I'd actually like that, too. And I'd sort of like a shoulder holster. I know, I know, that's probably weird. Ha!
Brittany, you can still join us! Make a goal for the week that you can finish by Saturday! :)
I've written 17 chapters. My goal was a chapter a day. I'm over half way there. But I also didn't count on a broken arm this month either. We'll see how many more I can get. There's 47 planned chapters and I always add a few as I write.
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