October IWSG 2013 Getting a Better Perspective

I'm afraid I double booked today. If you are looking for Cami Checketts' Blog This post, you can find it HERE.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time. I'm currently #165.

WARNING: This might be a long post. :)

And because of that, I'll post my October post schedule first.

Topics to rehash from LDStorymakers Convention:

1. Pros and cons of writing in 1st person
2. How to weave romantic elements through any genre
3. Suspense!
4. Working with series, sequels and spin-offs
5. Research for your novel, and just in time for NANOWRIMO...
6. Plotting!

Personal topics:

1. My first school visit
2. Blogfest Time
3. Some excerpts from Fade Into Me and Search For Knowledge (yep, it's back on!)

Book Reviews:

1. Deep Cover by Traci Hunter Abramson
2. Bloodborne by Gregg Luke

Now to recap one of the BEST keynote speaker addresses I've ever heard. Seriously, I wish I had it on video so you could just watch it. What I like best is that you can apply this thought process to every aspect of your life. 

It all started with one question. 

Am I good?

And ended with a different question.

Does it matter?

Regina Sirois (2012 Winner of ABNA for YA for her book On Little Wings), told us about 3 men who climbed Mount Everest. I won't go into all of that, but the point was this--we all have our summits (goals) and that's great. However, we cheat, and that's where we get into trouble.

For instance, my Mt. Everest summit was to see my name on a book in the library. That was the one thing I wanted, and I thought it would make me happy. This goal translated to "get a book published" then you will be happy.

I did that. But I wasn't happy. I reached my summit and saw another peak in the distance and thought, "What did I know? That peak over there is what I really wanted. This one isn't enough. I want to have 1000 positive reviews, make tons of money and write 20 more books that everyone will be waiting anxiously for."

And then I'll be happy.

Unless I can get a movie deal. THAT would really make me happy.

Are you starting to see the problem? We fall into traps that take away our air--I have to sell these books, I have to make people proud, etc.

When people climb Everest they are told that if they summit they should take a moment to savor the view. Take a picture and then get the heck down! You can't set up camp at the summit because you will DIE!

Our writing summits are the same. If you reach your goal, enjoy it, then come back down. Remember who you are and find your inner peace again. Don't give the goal/summit the power to make you happy or sad. Instead, learn to enjoy writing for the sake of writing. Regardless of who will read it and what they'll think.

Do you stop loving your stories if they don't become NY bestsellers?

Well, look at it this way. If our books are our children...
"I had kids. They aren't rich and famous. No one has ever heard of them. What a waste of time!"

You'd never say that about your flesh and blood children, so don't allow doubt to make you say it about your words. At one time you loved them enough to put them on screen/paper/napkin and it didn't matter what anyone else thought of them.

So ask yourself...

Am I good?

Does it matter?

From Goodreads:

This is a story of the countless ways we get love wrong. And why, despite every disappointment, we keep fighting to get it right.

Jennifer must do the impossible – bring her mother home. When a family is torn apart by death, two sisters take violently divergent paths and the story of their family appears to end terribly and abruptly. Two decades later Jennifer never dreams that the photo she finds stuck between the pages of a neglected book will tear open a gaping wound to her mother’s secret past. Abandoning her comfortable life with her parents and best friend in the wheat fields of Nebraska, Jennifer’s quest for a hidden aunt leads her to the untamed coast of Maine where she struggles to understand why her mother lied to her for sixteen years.

Across the grey, rocky cove she meets Nathan Moore, the young, reluctant genius surrounded by women who need him to be brother, father, friend, provider, protector and now, first love. The stories, varied, hilarious, and heartbreaking, unfold to paint a striking mural of the shattered past. As Jennifer seeks to piece together her mother’s story, she inadvertently writes one for herself.