I remember getting advice from an author back when I was unpublished. She said something along the lines of: if you want it - deep down in your gut want it - and are willing to work at it and understand the harsh truth that being published is not something you’re entitled to but, rather, is something you have to earn, you’ll likely get published. For some reason, that advice has always stuck in my head. I thought about it the other day when I came across a quote by Phyllis Whitney. She said:

You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist you must learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like.

Seems to me the authors are saying the same thing. I concur. Want it enough to take all of the bad stuff, knowing that achieving the good part is not a guarantee.

There are all sorts of things that can derail your focus and your enthusiasm for writing. Part of being successful is learning how to ignore all of them. One of the less obvious problems is what I call the falsely concerned friend issue. This is the person (or persons) in your life who tries to sound helpful and encouraging but who really is trying to break your confidence. I’ve been extremely lucky in this regard, but I have writing friends who have experienced this nasty treatment from people they once trusted.

I found this quote from Mark Twain that addresses the issue:

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

Bottom line: Remember to surround yourself with people who support you and your dreams. This career path can be hard enough without that added stress.

I just returned from the Romantic Times Convention. For me, the best part of a conference is in talking with people - readers, authors and aspiring writers - about books and the business of writing. I actually spoke in two workshops at this conference. Both were directed (mostly) at unpublished writers. We talked about craft issues and general ideas about time management, writing and process. Very interesting stuff. Some folks clearly were working hard at getting published. Others wanted to sell but were hitting roadblocks - some of their own making. Something about all those conversations made me think of this quote by T.E. Lawrence:

All people dream; but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recess of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are the dangerous people, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.

Acting on the dream. Seems to me that may be a big part of the difference between those who reach their writing goals and those who don’t.

I’m pretty passionate about this subject…

People often say they don’t have time to write. I just don’t think that’s true. Unless you’re Kate on that reality tv show on TLC called Jon & Kate Plus Eight - the woman has twins and sextuplets and an adorable hubby who’s a bit of a goof - you have time to write. I could give you example after example of how authors are writing and getting books in under incredible odds. There are many times I wonder when people sleep, but I know the real answer is that they somehow find the time to get it all done.

I explained it this way to someone the other day: if you were told your kids or spouse or a loved one could only get what they need (whatever that is) if you did X. You would make time for X. You would work in X whenever you could. You would make X a priority. Why? Because it’s for someone you love and you would find a way to make X happen.

Why isn’t the same true for a passion you have? Why can’t you make your writing as much of a priority as you would make X?Your goals are just as important as those of your kids, spouse and loved ones. Really. You would do it for them. Do this for you. You are important too. Write.

There are all sorts of things that can derail us when we’re writing - family, health issues, work, time commitments, rejection…and the list goes on. You don’t have to look for these issues. They’re everywhere. I’m thinking the secret is to work around them, over them and through them.

I recently read an article in my local paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune. There was a front page story on writing workshops and how writers handle setbacks. When talking about rejection, there was a reference to a rejection received for Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl. It went like this: “…a dreary record of typical family bickering, petty annoyances and adolescent emotions.”

Just imagine if that rejection had been the last word on Anne Frank’s diary. In other words, keep plugging along. Keep believing, writing and submitting. Don’t let the distractions and potential derailments win.

And some writing days are about cutting words instead of adding them…

Part of the challenge here is to keep everyone focused on writing and meeting writing goals. I got a reminder this week that sometimes the words need to be down paper before you can figure out if you’ve written your book/manuscript correctly. See, my editor called and asked me to re-send a copy of my November release, HOT AS HELL (Brava), via email so it could go to the copyeditor. Rather than just hit send, I read through my precious one more time. After all, I’d written a single title and novella since I turned this one in.

[Can you see where this is going?]

In reading, I discovered I didn’t accomplished what I wanted to in the last third of the book. It was fine and probably the best last third of the book I could write months ago when I wrote it. But I could write a better last third of the book today. Having stepped away for a couple of months, I could see where I went off-track. I knew without my editor telling me that the book needed an overhaul if I wanted it to be the best it could be (and I did want that). So I re-wrote 110 pages from scratch. Started Sunday night and finished this morning. [An exhausting process I don’t recommend.] The net result is the book is two pages shorter, but it’s 100% better. Less is more in this case.

Some days taking deleting words (maybe even re-starting) is the answer. The trick is not to get caught up with revising and re-writing the same words over and over again. Keep perspective and your eye on the end goal. You want the words on paper and you want them to be the best words you can do, but sometimes you can’t see what works best until it’s all out there available for you to review and edit.

Write then revise. It’s a good mantra.

I thought I’d kick off this round of Sven with a story that’s stuck with me for quite some time now. It’s about not giving up. I don’t remember the details or even where I saw it. I think it was in RWR (the monthly magazine of RWA). If you know, speak up because I’d love to thank this lady. Her voice hovers in the back of my mind as a reminder to keep pushing forward. The story goes like this:

A woman was trying to get published. She wrote whenever she had a few minutes - when the kids went to bed, early in the morning before the family woke up to start the day, and at every other inconvenient time when she would rather have been doing something for herself or the family…or sleeping. After about a year, she finished the manuscript and sent it to a publisher. One day she got an envelope back. It was a rejection. She sat down, upset and disappointed, and thought about all those times she could have been doing something other than writing and how her hard work and sacrifice had been in vain. Then her son sat down next to her and asked why she was sad. She told him the publisher didn’t like her book. You know what the kid’s response was? Write another one and send that to the publisher.

Yes, young Skywalker. That is the answer. You pick up and start again. Whether you are published or unpublished, remember that you have the time and somewhere inside you is the will. If you don’t believe me, ask a kid.

I’m not a big believer in the “this one wrote itself” philosophy. Sure, some books are easier to write than others. Some characters crystallize in your head better than others. Some plots flow while others bumble around. Some pages go from mind to keyboard with a great deal less profanity and hair-pulling than others. But the reality is the words don’t get on the page without a writer putting them there. The computer doesn’t write books. We do.

Despite that, there are these moments. The ones where the writing is hard, the words won’t come, it all reads like crap when you try to revise it…and then it happens. You read over something you wrote days or weeks of even months ago and you don’t remember writing the words. Ever have that happen? You go along and say, “wait, when did I write that?” and then realize what you came up with is pretty good. Whether you’re a plotter or pantser, you stumble across those lines. Even when you felt as if you were fighting every word, starting every sentence with “she” and only using “to be” verbs, you managed to come up with something great. Something that fit and came from you without having to dissect every syllable. That’s the It moment. You were in the zone and did not even realize it. And we all experience those speical times. We do. You probably don’t realize it now that they’re out there. It’s hard to see that when teh deadline is looming. In fact, you might not realize it until you look at copyedits or review a manuscript for the 50th time that you had an It moment or two. But, they are there and you need to hang on to the feeling you get when you find them.

So, as you worry and convince yourself you can’t write - and we all do that - take a step back. Go to the beginning, read through and you’ll see. Just where you thought the thread fell apart, it might actually have come together.

We deal with fear every single day. When pursuing a writing career, there are a few unexpected fears. Fear of rejection. Fear of success. Fear of failure. Fear that it will never happen for you. Fear you suck. Fear of not being taken seriously. Fear of never getting ahead. Fear someone is getting ahead faster than you. Fear that it can all be taken away. Fear that it whatever you achieve is a fluke. Fear you can’t repeat whatever you managed to do right. Fear, fear, fear.

I could make a much longer list but will stop because, honestly, worrying about the “what ifs” and “why not me” and “why can’t I” and the “when is my turn” moments stop you from moving forward. Fear can cripple and derail. It can also motivate so long as you limit its power.

There’s a Japanese proverb that sums it up the best. It goes like this: Fear is only as deep as the mind allows. I think that means that you can be ruled by fear or you can acknowledge it then push forward anyway. Whether you’ve written 100 books or are working on that first sale, you know some level of fear. To the extent there’s security in numbers, take comfort in the fact you are not alone. We all are fighting off some writing concern. Whatever it is, refuse to let it take over or take more of your time than it should. Whether you write or not, the fear will be there. So, you might as well write.

From time to time people ask me why I write. Shiloh hit on this a little bit a few days ago. For whatever reason, I never have a great answer to the question since, honestly, the answer is: because I do. Not to sound corny or annoying but I write because I want to, am driven to and am lucky enough to have someone pay me to do so. Producer/screenwriter/actor Bobby Moresco described it like this in a magazine called Creative Sccreenwriting:

I write for the memory of my mother and father. I write for the future of my children and grandchildren who will know this world without me. I write because I can make a living at it. I write because someone once said I was good at it. I write because even though I know what I have to say is not nearly enough, ever; I know it’s all I have to give. I write because I hope tomorrow to have more.

Seems simple, doesn’t it? Before I got my first publishing contract, I finaled in a few contests. Those finalist marks gave me both the courage and incentive to continue trying. I thought I could write but someone else was saying I could write. I thought I had something to say. Something to offer. Something I wanted to get down on paper and share. I wanted a chance and knew I had to earn it. But, man, I wanted it to come easier and faster. Then one day in May 2005 someone in NYC gave me that chance. An editor said I could earn money doing this thing I enjoyed and felt compelled to do. So now I write because I can and do.

This is a hard business filled with rejection both before and after you sell. There always will be someone out there who wins more contests, gets more requests and hears that phone ring with THE CALL before you do. After that, there always will be someone who is gets more attention, makes more money, acquires more publisher promo dollars and attracts more readers. This business ain’t for sissies, people who give up or for the easily disgruntled.

So, I’m thinking you need to have a reason to write. You have to know that reason, understand it and nurture it. When the whole process seems unfair - and it sure will - you can step back, dig down and remind yourself of your answer. Then push on. If the answer is as simple as “because I have to” that’s good enough. Know why and then write.