Waiting to Hear...

Scary, scary, scary. Why did we have to submit around a holiday? Everybody's on vacation. Probably for the next three months. Gads. Okay, well probably at least through this week. Don't they know I'm waiting? Don't they know I'm a nervous wreck? Okay, okay, so everybody in the slush pile is going through the same thing. I'm lucky I have an awesome agent to get my manuscript through the door. Still. They should all step away from their sandcastles, replace their flip-flops with business shoes and READ!!! Right? Right? Gads.

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

"Success" has been on my radar lately. Especially with the challenges, not only of getting published, but of this industry in general in the current market. I have to ask myself, if this career doesn't make me rich, is it still a worthy pursuit?
     If not, why? How many careers are really about money these days? The numbers seem to be dwindling.
     And if so, why? Why must money be a judge of one's creative output? And isn't it a fickle judge at best?
     Here's a very interesting take on what success is and what it should be to you.

Outta here - again!

If you're following, I hope you're getting a good peek into what a difficult process writing a novel can be. And because it's so tough, you have to celebrate the little milestones when you reach them. Like today.
     A full revision is done. I hit 'send' on that email getting it back to my agent. My legs feel wobbly and a little numb. I made a ton of changes (unbelievably!) and the story actually ended up shorter (and tighter). I've polished it to the best of my current abilities. (Knowing I still have tons of room to grow.) But for now, I've done it.
     I've jumped a hurdle. I've reached an end. And when I calm down, I'm going to go swimming, take it easy, and revel in my temporary victory. Wahooooo!

Confidence vs. Self-doubt

Nathan Bransford has written a wonderful post on the differences and similarities between confidence and self-doubt and how they affect our writing. It's worth the trip to GO READ.

Move Through the Creative Gap

I debated posting that Adele video because I was in a low spot that day. I tend not to show people those down times. But this is a different kind of blog. This blog is more about reality than my main blog and I think its important for those on this same crazy journey to understand how hard it can be.
     They say you can't truly reach success or become an expert at something until you've put in 10,000 hours. Well, I'm nearing those hours, and the beastie is really testing my resolve. Am I failing at this career I've dedicated so much time to? I couldn't really figure out how to say it, exactly. But then along comes Tribal Writer and says it perfectly:
     "The important thing is you're failing forward."
     Choosing a career like this is, in many ways, choosing discomfort. Because it's that constant striving to be better that gets us there, but it's that not feeling good enough yet that drives that action. It's the fate of the creative mind unfortunately, and why so many people refuse to stay on the path. And yet, the silver lining is that all that drive will (I hope) eventually lead to something spectacular.
     Truly, I can't say it better than Tribal Writer did (sections 3 and 4 especially) in her post move through the creative gap (all the way to the power of awesome). If you'r on even a moderately similar journey as mine, I highly suggest you go READ.