A Slice of Orange

By Louise Knott Ahern

This time last year, I was heading back from the holidays fully resolved to meet all of my writing goals: Finish my book, send it out, get published, and earn a fabulous advance.
It didn’t happen. A year later, I’m still working on that work-in-progress. I haven’t sent out a query in more than two years. And that fabulous advance check is just as far from my reach now as then.

I could list all kinds of reasons for my lack of achievement in 2005. I could say, legitimately, that my full-time job as a magazine editor and PR pro left me scant creative energy at the end of the day. I could say that my two-hour commute drained me physically and ate up precious writing time. Let’s not forget that I was pregnant, and my first trimester was a blur of puking and sleeping. Oh, and there was that cross-country move in the middle of the year that was just too stressful for me to be able to focus on writing.

Yes, my dear fellow writers, on any given day in 2005, I could have listed any number of obstacles blocking me from my writing dreams.

But let’s face it. Those aren’t REASONS for my lack of success. They’re EXCUSES. Nothing more than whiny, pathetic attempts to justify my own lack of discipline. The fact is, nearly all of my published friends landed their first book deals while juggling full-time jobs and, in most cases, parenthood. They managed to finish their books, find agents, and get published with just as many other responsibilities as me. Did they whine about lack of time? No. They did whatever they could to FIND the time.

So, as we enter 2006, I have just one resolution. NO MORE EXCUSES.

I am just as busy now as I was a year ago. (Busier, actually. I have learned that being a full-time mother is far more draining than being a magazine editor with a two-hour commute.) But no matter how busy I am, the fact remains that I will never see my dreams come true if I don’t crack the whip against my own back. There will be no book deal if I don’t finish the darn thing first. And I will never finish it if I continue to make excuses.

Happy New Year! Happy Writing!

By Dana Diamond

What do Tupperware consultants, Olympic hopefuls, entrepreneurs and unpublished writers all have in common?

They all sacrifice inordinate amounts of time, energy and (often) money on careers that may or may not reap any financial benefits…even though they know the odds of are stacked against them.

My question isn’t why they are insane enough to do this, but rather, why is it that three out of the four are considered careers, but the fourth is often mistaken for a hobby?

Now I know there are writers who don’t care to be published. They are known as hobbyists. And I know there are entrepreneurs out there that are dabbling just for the fun of it; also hobbyists. And therein lies the key; “for the fun of it”.

But if an unpublished writer is consistently writing and working toward their goal of a career as a published author, why would someone take the time to try and convince them it is a hobby?

Just because we love what we do and can’t imagine doing anything else (even if it pays bubkis) doesn’t mean it isn’t work.

Of course, I recently debated this double standard, which is why it’s on my mind. I bring it up to you because I know I can’t be the only writer who’s had this conversation.

Hopefully, revealing the double standard for what it is will help other writers and their loved ones gain perspective.

Or maybe the dictionary, my all-time favorite book, can settle it:

hob·by
n. pl. hob·bies

An activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in
primarily for pleasure.

by Michele Cwiertny

Some of you may remember from a previous post of mine that recently an editor, who will always have my heartfelt thanks, had sent me a revision letter for my historical manuscript, TO REIGN EDEN. Although the changes were hardly complicated, it took me awhile to figure out how to take apart my story like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and put it back together to form a different, but definitely more beautiful, picture.

Now I can step back and study the new picture with all the pieces intact. And you know what? I’m even more in love with the story and the characters than ever before.

I scrutinized each piece, each scene, each character, and forced myself to focus on how to make it all behave differently, how to make it all ring truer, how to put together a more complete picture. And you know what I found? My characters and their motivations are stronger, each scene serves its purpose in expressing the need and wants of the characters, and sparks fly between my hero and heroine.

It wasn’t easy for me to do that. No way. Writing is never “easy” for me, but that’s probably because I expect my stories and characters to convey so much to the reader. I know what I want to experience when I pick up a book and those standards apply to my writing, as well, which can very well lead to a massive headache, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Oh, and those of you brilliant published authors out there who have no problem creating beautiful stories so quickly—I bow to your genius and talent!

And even though those standards of mine are high, there are always ways to raise the level of the story. Such was the case when the editor read my story. Yes, I had definitely written the story to my best ability before I’d sent the manuscript to the publishing house, but with a little guidance and a few suggestions, I managed to learn more about how to write a compelling novel. Boy, I hope I’ll never stop learning.

No, I’m not telling you that the story is perfect and will never be revised again (don’t I wish!). Rather, I’m saying that I am open to becoming a better writer each time I sit down to the computer and visit my stories.

Okay, now it’s time for me to polish my proposal again…

Happy writing!