Year of Win, Day 31: Starting Over

Since my last post talked about writer’s block and the dark struggle of the soul, I thought I’d follow up with a “where do we go from here” conversation.  For me, it took learning some simple rules:

1.        It’s not a race.  I’ve been running at a goal for so long, I forgot I’m on a journey. The point of writing is to follow the story, to see what happens. Being in a hurry to win a contest, to get an agent, to self-publish a novel, to get a traditional publishing deal…while those things are nice, it’s more important to own and love the story and the craft. If you do that, without haste, the others will come.

2.       Imaginary pressure is not my friend.  Giving myself insane goals hurt more than helped.  Feeling like a failure because I didn’t finish a manuscript on a self-imposed deadline was counter-productive.  I’m in this glorious place where I don’t have professional deadlines—I have the freedom to take things slow and enjoy the small moments my characters are having.  Someday, I might not have that luxury, so why not relish it now?

3.       Listen to my teachers—and follow through. I was lucky enough to have a critique with Kathleen Duey  (Skin Hunger, Sacred Scars) this past week.  Some of the things she said where things I knew intrinsically, but had been ignoring in my hurry (see point 1).  Others were ways of making things clear, in such a practical way, that I went, “Okay…duh. Yes, I get it now!”  But to really hear it, I had to let go of my defensiveness about my own work. As a result, I’m energized and ready to put things into practice, even if it means big rewrites, because it’s all clear to me now.

4.       Kill darlings with malevolent glee. But, never let them go.  I save all my drafts.  Who knows when a sparkly little line I had to discard in one piece will find a perfect home in another.  I tell you, that makes editing a lot easier…because nothing good ever truly dies.

5.        I am who I am. I love Holly Black. I think her Curse Workers series is brilliant. But no matter how much I love her writing, I’m not Holly Black. I’ve had different experiences, and I see the world through a different set of eyes. Ignoring trends and finding the story that only I am capable of telling is the way to great writing. 

6.       Above all, just relax

We can all have a Year of Win if we write the stories on our hearts and let the doubts go, while hanging on to our dreams, whatever those may be.

What lessons have you learned over the course of your writing journey?  Sharing these things helps us all….

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