Blog Chain - Accomplishments

Blog chain time! Check out PK's post from yesterday and head over to Tere's tomorrow. This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Michelle Hickman who wants to know:

This is the month in creating writing goals and making big accomplishments. What is your greatest accomplishment -- in writing, your life or perhaps something incidental that had a big effect on you?

This is such a great question. In my writing life, my biggest accomplishment is that I made my dream come true. I have a published book on the shelves. And while fiction is always nearest and dearest to my heart and a goal I'm still working to obtain, I gotta say I LOVE that my first published book is one geared toward helping people with something I love - writing.

In my personal life...one of my biggest accomplishments was getting my master's degree. It was hard lol Especially because when I got it I was a mommy to two very small children who had a husband that was gone for weeks at a time. I'm still not sure how I pulled it off - but I'm extremely proud that I did :)

And in my even more personal life - the fact that I somehow managed to bring two amazing kids into the world and haven't killed, seriously maimed or in any other way caused permanent mental or physical damage (that I know of) to any of us yet...though we've had some close calls :D My kids are a handful, but they are intelligent, hilariously funny, thoughtful, sweet and genuinely loving kids - it feels weird to call them an accomplishment, but I just don't think anything else in my life will ever come close to the pride I feel in those two amazing little human beings :) I am awed and blessed to be their mother.

What are your greatest accomplishments, in the writing world or in your personal life?

And - Happy Veterans Day. 

My deep, heartfelt thanks to those who make it possible for me to live the life I want to live.

Creative Goal Tackling

Sometimes unexpected (and unwanted) things occur and you just have to find a way to deal with them. For example, when we moved to PA, our moving truck (through a series of irritating and sometimes tragic circumstances) ended up being a month and a half late.

So, instead of getting our house set up, and putting our previously outside dog outside in her kennel where she belonged (the kennel was on the truck), she got to stay in the (empty) house with us (much to my dismay...and the cat's).

Now, I love our dog. But I don't like her in the house. She sheds like crazy. It's a pain. But after a month and a half of indoor living, our dog decided the outdoors was no longer good enough for her and pretty much has a stroke every time we try to put her in her kennel.

So...she now lives inside. A circumstance I really didn't want. But, I found a way to live with it. Instead of sweeping my kitchen (where she stays), I now vacuum it. It keeps the hair away and allows us to live in peace with each other. (Before I figured out the vacuum thing, I was sweeping up enough hair to build myself another dog every day. I was not having fun).

What does this have to do with writing? Well, sometimes we come across things we aren't expecting, we don't like, and we don't want to have to live with. And we don't always have a choice.

If you want a better story, sometimes you have to add in that new plotline thread that is going to take FOREVER to weave in. If you want an agent, you are going to have to query. If you want your book to sell, you are going to have to help market it. Sometimes, in order to accomplish your goal, you have to do things you might not want to do.

So do what I did. Find a way to make it not so bad. Find a way to do what you need to do in the most painless way possible. Take those revisions a small chunk at a time and set up a fun reward system for yourself. Gather a group of also-querying writer pals and help keep each other sane. Find aspects of marketing that you enjoy (or at least don't hate) and focus on those. If you don't like public speaking, maybe set up online workshops instead of school visits or pre-tape presentations instead of doing live chats. Facebook instead of blog or Tweet instead of Skype.

Bottom line: there are things that you are going to have to do to succeed in this business that might not be things you want to do. So find a way to accomplish your goals that you can live with. Do I enjoy vacuuming my kitchen every day (and sometimes twice a day)? Nooooo. But...it sure beats sweeping it 4 times a day and I get it done a lot faster.

Sometimes you just need to get a little creative :)

Have you found any creative ways to get a not-so-fun goal accomplished?

Give Yourself Some Credit

(REMINDER: Stop by the Operation Awesome Blog and become a follower for a chance to win a ton of books and a possible gift certificate! We are up to 4.6 books that I'm giving away already! (I will of course round up to the nearest book since I wouldn't want to send someone just part of a book) ;-) To enter, be or become a follower on the OA Blog and leave a comment on THIS POST or THIS ONE on my blog. Contest ends Saturday!)


One of my favorite quotes on writing is from Steve Martin, who said:

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper. 

I think we, as writers, can get so caught up in the revising and querying and never-ending quest for perfection in our work, that we don't give ourselves the credit we deserve for accomplishing the huge task of actually WRITING.

Before I actually sat down and tried to write a novel, I had no idea the amount of work that went into it. I had this idea in my head that I'd sit at my computer for a month or two, crank out the novel, go through it a couple times to check for typos, and that would be it. I'd have an incredible book ready for publication. So when I finished my first book, it was a huge celebration. I was so excited. I felt so PROUD.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd spend weeks, months, and even YEARS agonizing over the exact right word. I had no clue that there were all these little "rules" I should follow, like trying not to use adverbs, finding ways around using the passive "was", cutting unnecessary dialogue tags, swearing off info dumps, building story and character arcs, and on and on and on.

I knew how to write. I've always been good at writing. But I had no real idea how to CRAFT my stories.

The problem was, now that I knew that writing a story involves so much more than just WRITING a story, I began to focus on everything I still needed to do instead of giving my self credit for what I had already done. Sure, I still got an excited thrill writing THE END on a first draft. But part of me was heaving a big sigh as well, because I knew it was just the beginning.

Yes, my first drafts are generally nothing more than guidelines for the "real" book that will be revealed after I cut or rewrite nearly everything. But I need to remember how AWESOME it is that I can get a first draft out at all. There are so many people out there who sit down to write a novel who quit four chapters in. Or who finish the book but never look at it again, never revise it, never edit, never rewrite over and over again.

And most of the writers I meet do this. They focus on everything they still need to do, which is good and necessary, but we need to remember to give ourselves a little pat on the back for accomplishing the massive task of taking a huge stack of blank paper and turning it into an amazing possibility.

Do you do this? Do you forget to give yourself credit for your accomplishments? 

Your task today - give yourself a pat on the back...'cause you know you deserve one :)