Success...How do you know if you have it? #IWSG

 

It's September 1st and it's time for another IWSG post! The Insecure Writer's Support Group was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh (who is giving my book a shout out today! Thanks Alex!) as a way for all of us writers to share our fears, anxieties, and successes in a safe and non-judgmental space. Over the years, I have found this group to be one of the most supportive and welcoming places, boosting my confidence when needed and teaching me several great tips of the trade.

  

This month our awesome hosts are: Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin @Journaling Woman, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn, C. Lee McKenzie.

And don't forget, today is the deadline to submit your Sweet Romance for the IWSG Anthology contest!

September Question: 

How do you define success as a writer? Is it holding your book in your hand? Having a short story published? Making a certain amount of income from your writing?

There are certain accomplishments that pretty much everyone would agree are signs of being successful. Having a book on the "Best Sellers" list, winning an Olympic gold medal, or making lots of money. Most people never accomplish any of those things. If those top accolades were the only way to be successful, almost no one would be.

To be successful as an author, do you need to sell a million or more copies? Maybe some authors measure their success by books sold, but that seems too high a bar for most of us.

According to Google, Amazon alone offers over 48 million books! Unless you're already a best selling author it's hard to stand out in a crowd that enormous, even if your work is as good as Stephen King's or Maya Angelou's. Hundreds of thousands of people might love your work, if only they knew it existed.

I would LOVE for my book to become a best-seller. But I'm also realistic. Just like my figure skating students who dream of the Olympics, I know that there is only a minuscule chance that I make it to the top. And that's okay.

Maybe my own definition of success as a writer will evolve over time. At this moment however, in the middle of releasing my debut book, One Year on Broadway, I feel like a success.

I made it through the entire multi-year process of writing, re-writing, editing, arranging an outside editor, and finding a cover artist. Then I faced a roadblock, the kind that closes all six lanes of traffic, which threatened the entire project. I wondered if I should give up but I chose to forge ahead. Finally, I made it to release day. To me, that is success. Whether or not I sell fifty copies or a million, I'm happy with the fact that I told the story I wanted to tell and now it is out in the world. I have a feeling, though that if Stephen King only sold fifty copies of his next book, he might consider that one a failure. 

I would love to hear how you define success as a writer, have you made it yet?

Did you send in an entry to the Anthology contest?

And lastly, in honor of the release of One Year on Broadway last week, I wanted to share with you a short clip of Once on This Island from Broadway so you can see for yourself just how special this musical was.

Enjoy!

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Kathy :)

Insecure Writers Support Group

It's the first Wednesday of the month so that means it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group, started by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  It's a place where we can share our fears and successes and help encourage one another on this wonderful journey of writing.  Click here to join or read all the other great posts.

Today I have a success!

This morning I hit the magical number of 50,000 words written in my YA fantasy (50081 to be exact)!  I'm over half done!  I can't believe it.

When Jess encouraged me to start this project, I wasn't sure I would make it this far.  I don't get a lot of uninterrupted writing time, but somehow I managed to carve out a little bit each day.  Some days the words poured out of me, other days they had to be extracted from me like pulling wisdom teeth.

Those difficult days made me wonder whether or not to keep going.  But I did and now I'm determined to finish.  I just hope I don't have 50,000 words of garbage! (ok that's my insecurity coming in!)

What recent successes have you had? How do you manage your time to get your writing in? Do you ever fear you have a lot of words, but not much substance?

Kathy :)  

IWSG

Well we made it!!
It's Wednesday, May 2nd which means the A-Z Challenge has ended and it's time again for the Insecure Writer's Support Group started by Alex Cavanaugh.  It's a place where we can share our fears, our hopes and our dreams.  Come join us!

After finishing the Challenge I feel great! Some days were difficult, but I managed to come up with something  every day.  Now it's time to tackle the rest of my WIP.  As of yesterday I have 29,102 words!  I'm thrilled, but as I sit at the computer,  insecure thoughts flash through my head.  Maybe I should change the POV.  Is the story unique?  Am I taking my MC in the right direction?  How am I ever going to bring everything together?  

I try to suppress these nasty little thoughts, but they continue to pop into my head.  I think it's the insecurity of having complete freedom to take my story in any direction I can dream up. Am I really capable of choosing correctly?

A researcher in Stanford University's psychology department did a study a few years ago on how too many choices can affect the brain.  She discovered there are an optimal number of choices, which allow us to choose comfortably. But when given a number over that amount, our brains become unsure and our ability to choose is diminished.  Check out this article to read more about it.

My brain wants to hide when I think about all the possible directions I could take my story in and I only get 20 words written. So I've decided I'm sticking to my original plan and I'm eliminating all other possible paths, until it's finished.  Then I will go back and decide if it needs to be changed, but at least I will have a complete manuscript.

How do you ignore or get rid of those nagging little questions that try to undermine your work?


Have a great day!!!

Kathy :)      

D is for Dag Nabit!

Today is not only D-Day for the A-to-Z Challenge,  it is also the first Wednesday of the month which means it is time for Alex J Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group.  So it is a double challenge to fit in a D-word with one of my insecurities, but I have managed to do it.  So here goes....




D is for Dag Nabit!

Okay I know that isn't a word, but I don't feel comfortable making my characters swear. So I have to resort to silly words like "dag nabit" and "darn it all" that were used by my grandma. I have never been one to use swear words in my own speech, well maybe occasionally, but I'm kind of embarrassed to make my characters use them. I know I shouldn't be.  They are separate entities from me.  And clearly a few well placed swear words can intensify certain scenes.

I've made up my own swear words for my fantasy WIP.  For some reason it doesn't bother me to have them say, "You son of a kreda!  Get the KHAM out of here!"  In my historical fiction I did manage to use a few asses, hells, and damns, but that's as far as I can push it.


So how do I overcome this crazy insecurity and let loose with a string of expletives that would make my grandma blush?  And is it necessary?  What do you think, does it enhance a character's reality to be swearing?

Well that's enough drama for today.  I hope you have a delightful day!

Kathy :)

We were delighted to discover Devil's Tower in Wyoming on our way to Seattle

Thought today I'd give you a "D" picture instead of my crazy digital drawings.  :) 

Insecure Writer's Support Group

It's that time again.  Time for the first Wednesday of the month, Insecure Writer's Support Group post.  Alex J Cavanaugh started this group for writers to come together and liberate themselves from their fears and encourage one another.

2011 has been a busy year for me.

I decided I wanted to focus on blogging.  I only had around 15 followers and then I found Alex's blog.  I took the plunge and joined his A-Z Blogfest in April.  I couldn't believe how much fun it was and wow, I was actually getting comments and new followers!  I was also finding great new blogs to follow myself.  I started posting more and visiting blogs more regularly.  I entered as many blogfests as I could and loved every one of them.

Then along came Rachael Harrie's Platform Building Campaign over at Rach Writes.  I was totally hooked.  Every challenge was tons of fun!  And now we even have a book of entries to show for it.  Cool!  It rejuvenated my creative spirit and roused my desire to work on a novel again.  (I had been focusing solely on children's picture books and nonfiction articles.)     
With all the great support I received from all of you, I entered Nano for the first time and I have a great start on my new novel.

But now my big worry is, how do I split my time between keeping up with blogging and platform building and finishing my novel?  There are so many important activities (reading, blogging, noveling, visitng other blogs, playing with the kids, eating, sleeping, working...)  that eat up time I'm not sure how to fit them all in.      

I'd love to hear your suggestions on how you delegate your time to accomplish all you do.

And thanks so much to all my followers and supporters!  You guys rock!!!!

Kathy :)