I love this quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it, because action has magic, grace and power in it." It reminds me that the power of believing in yourself, while crucial, the act of starting something you believe in has more power.
As a writer, I believe in the power of words but have discovered that in many ways I'm all talk and no action. Yeah, talking the talk is great, but you have to come to the writing desk and put the words down to follow through.
I'm back at a beginning in my writing life, not quite a full circle but it feels like one. I'm a multi-published author of adult romance and children's work, but after a hiatus am finding it difficult to wait on editors to say they love my work. This is my romance work I'm talking about. My previous romances were all published by a small press, and I was content with that for a while. I learned a lot about revision and the process of seeing a work procede from contracted to available for sale. Now I have an awesome agent who has been sending my work out for nine months or so. She's working very hard for me, but some of the comments coming back are so vague as to be unhelpful. However, I know that in this business all it takes is for my manuscript, my story, to resonate with just one editor for it to take off. This is the new beginning I'm waiting for.
Also, I've started writing every day again. I got out of the habit a couple of years ago when I broke my ankle. The experience kind of shook me and made me re-examine my self image, all of the images I had of myself, not just why I write. I've finished first drafts of a couple of books since then and allowed them to languish. Now I'm doing morning pages once more, at the very least I'll have three pages of hand written trash at the end of the day, and I'm re-reading and revising previously finished work to decide if it is worth pursuing.
Baby steps for me, someone who used to sit at the computer day in and day out and write until I was written out. Maybe I was. So I'm taking action from my own words and putting pen in hand and butt in chair. And reading about writing and writing about writing, apparently.
I'm so grateful to Muriel Dubois at Apprentice Shop Books for giving me the chance to write children's non fiction over the past couple of years. That work has sustained me and pushed me in a completely different direction. And it kept my writerly skills honed. So, moving forward...who's with me?
As a writer, I believe in the power of words but have discovered that in many ways I'm all talk and no action. Yeah, talking the talk is great, but you have to come to the writing desk and put the words down to follow through.
I'm back at a beginning in my writing life, not quite a full circle but it feels like one. I'm a multi-published author of adult romance and children's work, but after a hiatus am finding it difficult to wait on editors to say they love my work. This is my romance work I'm talking about. My previous romances were all published by a small press, and I was content with that for a while. I learned a lot about revision and the process of seeing a work procede from contracted to available for sale. Now I have an awesome agent who has been sending my work out for nine months or so. She's working very hard for me, but some of the comments coming back are so vague as to be unhelpful. However, I know that in this business all it takes is for my manuscript, my story, to resonate with just one editor for it to take off. This is the new beginning I'm waiting for.
Also, I've started writing every day again. I got out of the habit a couple of years ago when I broke my ankle. The experience kind of shook me and made me re-examine my self image, all of the images I had of myself, not just why I write. I've finished first drafts of a couple of books since then and allowed them to languish. Now I'm doing morning pages once more, at the very least I'll have three pages of hand written trash at the end of the day, and I'm re-reading and revising previously finished work to decide if it is worth pursuing.
Baby steps for me, someone who used to sit at the computer day in and day out and write until I was written out. Maybe I was. So I'm taking action from my own words and putting pen in hand and butt in chair. And reading about writing and writing about writing, apparently.
I'm so grateful to Muriel Dubois at Apprentice Shop Books for giving me the chance to write children's non fiction over the past couple of years. That work has sustained me and pushed me in a completely different direction. And it kept my writerly skills honed. So, moving forward...who's with me?
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