In Praise of Persistence

“Persistence isn’t very glamorous. If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. We love its flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the other ninety-nine percent. ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, said Einstein who was a consummate introvert. “It’s that I stay with problems longer.”

Susan Cain
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking

There are so many quotable moments in the book Quiet by Susan Cain, I could spend the next six months using them as blogger fodder (btw, I love that term!). But today this passage spoke to me.

Persistence.

We all advocate for it as writers. It’s one of the three P’s of publishing for me: Passion + Persistence = Published. But how eloquently Cain describes it! It’s not glitzy, it’s quite boring and almost designed to drive a soul to drink sometimes but it’s oh, so necessary if we are to get ahead in life – and not just for writing.

Daughter 2 was getting quite discouraged over her part-time summer job search. She’d been looking and submitting her resume for months but nobody was calling. Her self-esteem was slowly being whittled away because of the lack of reward for her efforts. She was close to abandoning the search but, lo and behold, she got a call for an interview a couple of weeks ago and was offered the job yesterday. Persistence, not giving up, paid off for her. But, more importantly, because she didn’t get a job right away, she truly appreciates the opportunity for work more now. She will not take this job for granted because it did not come easy. I think she’ll be a better employee because of it.

And so it is with the journey to publication. Your reward may not happen immediately but when it eventually does, the reward will taste that much sweeter for having taken a while to get to. Think about it. Do you HAVE to get an offer today? Would you be any less happy if it came in six months? Or six years?

As the Einstein quote stated, if you stay with a problem longer, you will become smarter. You will be a better writer because in the length of time that you are waiting you are also studying, connecting, crafting and developing expertise. Remind yourself daily that persistence is your friend. Embrace him well.

The Devil is in the Details

I'm in the midst of the reno from hell and, for the most part, my husband has had to deal with stuff. Mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, etc. Not very glamorous (to me anyway) but all those little details add up to a working house that I will one day celebrate and not curse because it doesn't have adequate heating, low water pressure etc. Now that we're getting toward the last third of the reno I now have to become immersed in the details. Lighting, paint colour, tile selection, ack! I know if I screw up on those things that no matter how well my husband has taken care of his details, my details will be out there for everyone to see. So, you might ask, what's your point? What does this have to do with anything - especially writing??

So many writers are doing NaNoWriMo (NaNo for short)this month that I keep reading about the deluge of submissions agents will be inundated with in January. I also keep reading that writers should please, for the love of God, please hold off on submitting. Why? Because it's the details that make your submission stand out. You might have got the bones of the book down this month. Maybe even some flesh and blood. But do you have the right nuances of character? Are your secondary characters fleshed out enough? Like a house that needs the right furniture, have you gone through the book and made sure the setting is solid and evocative and does it contribute to the overall mood of the room ... I mean book! So, so many DETAILS. You get my drift?

Those details - and like a house reno there can be hundreds of details/decisions to attend to - are critical if you want that book (or house) to shine. Even if you get sick of going through every scene (room) to make sure it flows with the rest of the scenes, even if you are sick of looking at lighting fixtures ... I mean descriptions! you need to to make sure your scene is as bright or as dark as you want it to be.

So, yes, the devil is in the details but the beauty will show in the book. And, I hope, my house. Good luck you NaNoWriMo's! Come January our books and houses may not be quite ready but they'll be on their way!

When Panic Hits - Keep Calm and Carry On

I thought I had things together. Figured that this past week when I was on vacation I'd get so much done before September hit. I would prepared. Yeah. What's that saying?? Something about best laid plans...?

Well, I woke up today, realized I was already two days into September and hit full blown panic mode.

Our house reno is so far behind I think it's in a different time zone.

My son's birthday is in two days and I haven't planned a thing!

I realize my MRI to look into this wonky back is scheduled the same day as son's said, unplanned birthday.

The four new toilets for the reno were delivered today but the guy wouldn't deliver them to the basement so had to put them in the garage where The Boy practices his hockey shots. I may have four new cracked toilets to put in the new still not finished house.

The Boy's hockey schedule firmed up and, yes, he has a tournament starting next Wednesday, going all weekend, and yes, he has one the same weekend as my mom's 75th birthday and, oh, yes, all his practices until November occur on Saturdays and Sundays too.

Our main computer got some weird virus so now all of us have to share my poor, overworked laptop until it's fixed (and I still haven't taken it in yet! School starts in four days!)

I'm still only half-way through my revision to the wip and still not sure it's working.

I have to write the dedication and acknowledgements for THE BREAK and the one, freaking line for the dedication is giving me more grief than writing the whole book. What is UP with that?

I'm only halfway through a beta read for a friend who I told I would get to it in a week and feeling very guilty about it.

And that's only the start of my panic. Let's not forget that I'm back to work next week and school starts too.

But you know how I get through the panic? I remember that all these things are small and the panic will soon pass. The Brits survived the Blitz and had the best saying ever to come out of a war: Keep Calm and Carry On.

It's all in the attitude. And remembering that there are way worse things happening to people who are handling true crises with grace, humour and way more courage than we shall ever know.

How are you all handling your busy lives? And how do you handle it when the panic hits?

Slow Progress Better than No Progress

I don't know about you but the concept of 'slow' is a real irritant for me. I've grown accustomed to fast-paced city life. I grew up in a rural farming community and, believe me, I know the concept of slow. There is nothing more frustrating than being caught behind a crawling tractor with a wide-load combine taking up most of the space on a rural road when you are running late for an English exam! When I moved to the city I was at first overwhelmed by how fast things sped by - both highway and people! The stereotype of rushing here and there, get 'er done yesterday, no time to waste really is a part of city life. Especially city life with 3 kids, full-time job, dog, and home renovation to contend with! But I adapted - even welcomed - that faster pace.

When I began the journey into book publishing people warned me how slow it could be at times and it's very true - and very frustrating. Weirdly, lately things in this business seem to be changing at the speed of light (e.g. self-publishing, agents getting into that part of the business, etc). But everyone still agrees that publishing slows down over the summer. For once, I'm glad there is slowness. I'll tell you why.

Per my blog post last week, I have a few goals to meet over the summer. And every one of them seems to be going slower than my never-ending house renovation (publishing isn't the only slow business, people. Construction - especially on my house! - is SLOW.) I've only been trying to lose ten pounds for one week and I only managed to lose 2. I wanted to revise a chunk of my wip and I only got through 4 chapters. I wanted to clear out the mess of paper in my office and I only got through one pile. I wanted to organize the stuff in my house for a yard sale and haven't come close. I wanted to get my wonky back straightened out and it's still wonky.

But slow progress is still better than nothing. Going slow has its benefits (as all those proponents of slow cooking will tell you). Losing weight slowly tends to stay off longer. Four chapters of revision is a start and there is no way a quick revision helps a book become better. One pile of paper is one less to go through. And those other two projects - well, a back is a complicated thing and miracles take time. A shot of cortizone is not going to help me in the long run. The yard sale organizing … well, I just have no excuse for that (beyond the fact I hate going through stuff and would just as soon send all of it to Goodwill. I may still end up doing that.)

My point (and I do have one) is that sometimes it's better to take things slowly - especially when that thing is important to you. The care with which we undertake to do something always shows up in the final product. There is a time and place for speed, certainly. But if something matters to you, taking the time to do it right is a hundred times better than a quick fix, get it off my desk, approach. Inevitably, those quick fixes break faster and you'll just have to re-do them later.

So, count this writer as one who is thankful that summertime is slow. The livin' may not exactly be easy but the pressure cooker doesn't need to be on when it's this hot outside!

The Hardest Writing Lesson to Learn

Of all the things that make up a good book - active dialogue, believable and empathetic characters, kick-ass plot, strong narrative structure, increasing conflict, external and internal goals, etc. etc. (put the next hundred important things in writing a book here ___) one of the most important is probably one of the simplest - yet hardest - to do.

Putting the book aside after you've drafted it and waiting.

I think waiting, and all its subtle torments, is especially hard for writers (see my older posts tagged 'waiting' and my own struggles with that elusive virtue). But, like the proverb says, good things do come to those who wait. Especially when you've finished your first draft or when you're about to tackle an editor's or agent's revision letter. I know, I know. It's so, so tempting to send the thing out there once you've drafted it. You can feel it. It's so close to perfect! You feel the passion of that book. You want it to be read! Why wait to revise after you've already spent months working on it? What more could you possibly do to those thousands of words? Well, in the immortal words of Yoda (who never said this but totally could have!) "Oh, young Skywalker. More you can do, yes."

Would you advocate your son or daughter marrying someone after only two or three dates? Heck, even two or three months worth of dates? No, you say. Of course not. To know someone - really know someone - takes time. How can you learn all the nuances of this complex person in such a short time? You only begin to understand someone through exploring their layers: first the superficial - the looks, the sound of the voice, the physical mannerisms. Then, after a time comes the deep conversations, the surprise revelations, the knowledge that there is good and maybe not so good in this book - I mean person! Anyway, you get my meaning, I hope? Time and distance can make you see a person more clearly. The same thing applies to a book.

I'm thinking about this now because I'm about to enter into my editor's revision for The Break. Since submitting and receiving word that it was accepted for publication I have not opened it. Not once. In 9 months. Because I knew that the time away from it would make me see it more clearly. So now I can look upon it with a slight detachment that will make it easier to make choices about it. That will, hopefully, make me fall in love with it again.

And as for the WIP I finished a couple of weeks ago? We're on a break right now for a couple of months. My WIP understands. It knows how important it is to explore other novels for a time. That way when we start seeing each other again, I'll know it's the one for me and what we have to in order to make the relationship work.

So, what about you? Do you take a break from your draft? And for how long?

Thoughts and Feelings on Becoming a Sophmore Author

I haven't posted much lately about my publishing journey and 'the trying to figure it all out' part (supposedly the purpose of this blog) and I feel a little guilty about that. But since this darn journey is so long and filled with so many hours of sitting by a roadside and waiting for something to happen it doesn't allow for that many scintillating and/or illuminating posts. However, as most of you heard or read about last week, I do finally have some news: my second book titled THE BREAK sold to Great Plains Teen Fiction for publication in Spring 2012!

Here's the PM announcement:
Nelsa Roberto's THE BREAK, in which a teenager is left alone during Spring Break to watch over her beloved, and increasingly forgetful, grandmother and will do anything to stop her from being sent to a retirement home, to Gregg Shilliday and Anita Daher at Great Plains Teen, for publication in Spring 2012, by Kris Rothstein at Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency. kris@swayzeagency.com

And the longer blurb found on my agency's website:

The Break. When Abby Lambert’s parents leave for an emergency Doctors Without Borders mission she knows she’ll have to give up her long-anticipated March Break ski trip with her friends to watch over her grandmother (Nona) Lucia. She doesn’t like it but if she doesn’t stay home she fears her mother will finally commit Nona to the Sunny Haven Community Retirement Home and Abby has no intention of Nona ever leaving her. So begins the craziest week of Abby’s life. She somehow agrees to help out at the very place she’s been trying to avoid – Sunny Haven. And to make her life even more stressful, she has to deal with Kyle DiLuca – the stuck up nephew of Sunny Haven’s owner. But when Nona disappears on a bitter winter night Abby discovers that assumptions aren’t always facts and intentions are only as good as what you can deliver on. Rights Sold: Great Plains Teen, Canada, for spring 2012.

So beyond being obviously thrilled that THE BREAK will be published (I truly do adore this story and the characters so much) what am I feeling about no longer being a debut (newbie) author?

Well, the most overwhelming feeling is one of GRATITUDE. I'm so grateful that Great Plains Teen and my awesome editor, Anita Daher, are behind this story and feel as passionately about it as I do. There is never a guarantee that the next book you write will be received with any enthusiasm. It's all a crap shoot, as we know. To receive the validation that people whom you respect and who know this business and see so many stories believe this one is worthwhile enough to spend their time, effort and money on is very humbling.

Gratitude is closely followed by RELIEF.

Yup, I'm relieved that I'll be published again. I have many stories inside me. I know not all of them will be published but I always have hope that the one I'm writing will be 'it'. But I'm also aware of how very, very hard it is to keep writing in the face of so many amazing books and so many talented writers out there. But as a beginning writer what I have learned is that you need to tune out a little bit of that overwhelming noise that is the publishing world. Keeping the focus on writing stories that you care about is the best thing you can do in trying to get (and keep getting) published. My personal formula for getting published (Passion + Persistence = Published) can be easily applied to Staying Published. There may be months or, more likely, years between books but all you can do is keep writing and keep that passion for writing alive.

The third thing I'm feeling is ANXIETY.

Unfortunately, this feeling doesn't stop the second time around. The excitement of knowing your words will see the light of day is always (for me, anyway) quickly followed by it's ugly sister: anxiety. The sophmore effort has a little more anxiety oomph for me as it has those extra thoughts layered in about trying to do better than your first effort. Why even bother writing if you don't learn from your past mistakes and make your next effort better? Then you start to worry are you repeating yourself? You want to keep the style and your voice consistent so that when someone picks up your books they feel like they are part of a family but, at the same time, you want to stretch and grow as a writer, even if only a little bit. Gah. I know, I know. Just enjoy the fact that it's being published, Nelsa. Sheesh.

I really liken this sophmore experience to being a sophmore in high school. You've gotten over the huge thrill and fear of starting your first year. You've bumped along, made some new friends, made some mistakes but hopefully haven't screwed up too much as you try and navigate the alien landscape before you. Now, in your second year, you kind of know what to avoid, who to trust, you don't get lost as much but there's still so much to learn, still so many things that you haven't experienced yet. It is still a long journey ahead (and you may never graduate!) but, as the old Beatles song goes: "I'll get by with a little help from my friends".

So thanks for listening to my thoughts and, as long as I keep writing, hopefully the journey will continue.

Link to an Awesome Blog Post

I don't often link to other blog posts because I'm a horrible blog visitor. I can go long stretches of time without visiting or discovering other blogs and, most of the time, I find that I'm usually quite late to the game and everyone has already discovered, visited, commented or otherwise discussed the blog or blog post in question so there's really nothing more I can add to the issue/discussion.

But today I finally visited the blog of Sarah Davies the principal agent at Greenhouse Literary and her October 5th blog post was filled with such wonderful, practical and hopeful advice to writers I just had to share it with you (and I'll make a point to visit there more often). It's the kind of thoughtful post that will resonate with so many writers (or anyone who is endeavouring to accomplish an almost impossible pursuit)that it should be shared as widely as possible. It really did put things in perspective for me and is a reminder of what we set out to do with our writing and what we should be getting out of this perilous and fraught with angst endeavor.

Enjoy the post, thanks to Ms. Davies for writing it and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks out there!

A Kipling Moment

Limbo and What it Does to Your Head

And I'm not talking about the dance game.

I'm IN limbo. So many things are up in the air, waiting to hear about things, waiting to start things, just a general state of limbo. Not just with writing but with homelife too. And it's seriously messing with my head and my already less than patient attitude.

I've mentioned before that we're on the cusp of a major renovation. We've been on this cusp so long I've worn a groove in it from the pacing. I've also got a few things out there in the writing arena and with the expected summer slow down in publishing I figure I'll be waiting a while on those things too. I swear, some days the groove is quickly becoming a pit. Sometimes it feels like I'll never get out of this limbo. I even looked up the definition of the word to see if it captured this frustrated, helpless, trapped feeling I'm living with:

LIMBO (of limbus limbo, fr. L, border - more at LIMP) 1 often cap: an abode of souls that are according to Roman Catholic theology barred from heaven because of not having received Christian baptism 2 a: a place or state of restraint or confinement b: a place or state of neglect or oblivion (proposal kept in …) c: an intermediate or transitional place or state

Oh, yeah, baby. Captured what I'm feeling times a bazillion.

Sometimes I do actually feel like I am physically constrained and, in my worst moments, believe I am being neglected/obliterated. But what I really should focus on is that Limbo is also that last definition: an intermediate or transitional place or state. In a real life example I can relate to: Limbo is the time you spend in an airport waiting for the flight to get you to that really awesome island vacation destination. I hate airports but they are a necessary evil in order to get me to that ultimate destination. They may be boring, even stressful, maybe downright uncomfortable but they are, above all else, TRANSITIONAL. Which leads me to another definition:

TRANSITION: a passage from one state,stage, subject, or place to another.

Or, better yet:

a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage or style to another).

Yes, I like that. I'm not in Limbo. I'm in Transition - my house will evolve from its old leaking, dysfunctional shape to a beautiful, made for our family work of art. My writing is evolving from one form (submitted proposals) to one day accepted, publishable, real life books.

Now if only someone could tell me how long I'll be in Transition. And what I can do to make this airport more comfortable...

Getting Back into the Writing Game

Wow, June 1st already. Where has the year gone? For me, the last few weeks have flown by with nothing really concrete to show for it. I've taken a break from writing since I finished the revision to my YA paranormal earlier in May and that was right after I finished my YA contemporary back in October (with a sidetrip to a WIP that led to a dead end - for now). So now on the writing front I'm in the waiting game to see how both these books do. They're out of my hands for now. But that means I have to decide what to pursue next in terms of writing and that's a hard thing to figure out sometimes - especially without a shiny new idea dangling in front of me. I hate being in this limbo time.

It probably doesn't help that the family life is not expected to get any less stressfull over the next few months. As many of you know, my oldest daughter will be prepping to go to university in the fall and we'll have to get her packed and off and started on her new life (sob!!), we're trying to get a major reno started this summer and, most stressful of all, my mom (who lives about 4 hours away) will be undergoing surgery for breast cancer this month. My mind isn't exactly on mapping out my next story, you know? And yet, I know if I don't start writing soon, it will be that much harder to get back into it again. I've always believed that writers need to recharge their batteries and stepping away from writing and doing other things is crucial to creating good writing. But I've never left it for very long. A month at the most. And that's what I'm coming up to now.

I think I fear that somehow I will have forgotten how to write if I stay away from it for too long. That if I do let the personal life take over I will lose the one true discipline I've nurtured in my life. Believe me, I'm not that disciplined in anything else I've attempted but for writing I have started, I have kept at it - even through dark times, raising 3 children and work and family conflicts and books that felt like they were going nowhere - I have continued to write. So then why am I worried about not immediately picking up the pen now? What's holding me back?

Maybe I need a little bit of positive, go forward news from the writing front to get me fired up again. A good writer friend just told me about some news she received that really gave her a boost of confidence. It was just a few words but boy did they fire her up. I think that's what I need. Some sign from the universe that the brain cells I'll fry during the writing process are a worthy sacrifice. The summer will be here soon and we all know that the already slow publishing business will grind to a halt then. Before that happens - and before my personal life completely takes over - I need that little bit of something that will help me get back into the writing game again. For writers it doesn't take much to make us pick up the pen again. But a little good news sure makes that pen lighter.

The Writers Most Important Question: "What If ...?"

Ah, yes. What if ...? The classic question that starts all fiction writers off on their novels. Asking 'What if ...?' provides endless possibilities for story lines. Of course, which direction you as a writer go in depends on the series of what if questions you pose.

"What if a young girl found out her parents had lied to her her whole life?"
"What if that girl finds out her whole family are illegal aliens?"
"What if she's deported?"
"What if she decides to try and get back home?"

All these 'what if' questions were what went through my mind when I thought about ILLEGALLY BLONDE. An endless array of 'what if's' that eventually led to the plot and character development of my story.

Now here's a twist on the 'what if' question.

'What if' you apply that question to your own life?

I was watching the Olympics on the weekend when Alexandre Bilodeau won the first Canadian gold on home soil ever. There was an interview with him and they spoke about how he prepared for the biggest event of his career as an athlete. He has an older brother with cerebral palsy who inspires him on a daily basis by working on defying people's expectations of him and what he can do. Alex Bilodeau thinks of his brother on those days when he just doesn't feel like going out on a cold, miserable day to practice skiing and he asks himself one question: What if I was told I could never ski?

Would he wish -like his brother probably does - that he had the opportunity to practice racing down a mountain in cold, miserable weather? You obviously can guess what Alex's answer was to the 'What if' question he poses to himself. Alex's answer is to appreciate the fact that he is able to ski - and be thankful for the opportunity to do so even in miserable, uncomfortable situations.

So the next time I find myself complaining about writing - like struggling through a WIP that seems to be stuck in neutral most days and my desire to avoid that struggle I'll ask myself "What if I was told I could never write another word?" What kind of person would I end up being? Would I be happy?

The answer - and the follow up questions - to that intial 'What if' question establish the plot line of my writing life and my own character development as an author. I am lucky enough to be able to write and I need to appreciate what I have through the hard times and the good.

Thank you, Mr. Bilodeau and all the amazing athletes who inspire us, by asking the most important question of all: 'What if...?"

Stuck in the Middle

Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.

Trying to make some sense of it all,
But I can see that it makes no sense at all,
Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore
Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Stuck in the Middle with You. Lyrics by Stealers Wheel

Why am I quoting a song that I haven't listened to in years? Because it relates exactly to what I'm going through right now with this WIP. Stuck. In. The. Middle. With IT.

Now I'm not totally despairing of the situation. Yet. I know I go through this with EVERY book I write. Every single one. In fact, right about now is usually when I put the WIP aside and take a break from it. I did it with ILLEGALLY BLONDE. Started writing it in May 2006. Stopped in July. Didn't pick it up again until October. Finished it in early December. Total writing time about 5-6 months. Total break time about 2 months. The book I just submitted to my agent was like that too. I'd written the first half then stopped and started another book. But when my agent advised me that the one I'd shoved aside was probably the right one to go with I picked it up again. After that break I finished it in about 3 months.

So the question is: why on earth do I do this?? What is it about the middle of the book that ties me up in knots, frustrates me and makes me put the book aside?

I know I'm not a huge outliner. I don't need to know every single thing that happens in a plot before I write it. But neither am I a complete pantser. I know my beginning, I know my ending, I may know a couple of things that might happen in the story to get me to that end. But is it this hybrid approach of mine that creates its own special circumstances that lead to this struggle in the middle? I still feel like I'm sort of tied to a general outline that I have in my head, yet I know I'm free to waver and move from that outline whether in changing the tone or characters as I get deeper into the book. Is it this struggle between sticking to my orginial idea and having that original idea change up on me that drives me slightly crazy?

I think that's what's happening now. I thought I had one kind of story but it's turning into another kind - much darker and more complicated (a fairy tale retelling that has a murder mystery in it? Really??) that I need to stop and regroup. Because I write the first draft in long-hand it's hard for me to go back and re-read what I've written. So sometimes it helps at this point in my process to go back and start to type the first half of it and see if it's working. I've just typed up the first chapter (I'm currently on Chapter 18) and thankfully I really liked it. I'm hoping that as I type up the next 17 I have written I will see that the story really is working and that I just have to get to that next big event which will eventually lead to the climax and denouement and it'll be gravy.

A good writer friend suggested I should just write up the ending and that would give me a concrete finish line - a goal - to motivate me to get through the murky middle. But I need to go through a story linearly. I can't write up pieces and then fit them together later. I never did like puzzles too much.

So, whether I like it or not, I need to appreciate that this is my process. I do get stuck in the middle and I'll keep singing that song until I finally see my way out - then I can start singing Miley Cyrus's The Climb instead:

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

Failure Breeds Success: So says Michael Jordan

I've never been much of an athlete. Anything that requires an inordinate amount of physical sweat just turns me off. However, I am always impressed when I read about the mental will power that goes into shaping a star athlete. The ones that are the stars, the winners. How do they think? What is it about their attitude that makes a difference in their performance? Sure, you have to have some God-given talent and ability - but that can't be enough to push you into a superstar range.

My son is a hockey player. He's got a lot of inate skill and ability. He's a thing of beauty when he skates. But, as his parents, my husband and I need to tell him just because something comes easy to you doesn't mean you don't have to continue to work hard for it. Especially when you are not doing so well - that's when the true grit of a star athlete comes through - the never giving up bit. And, of course, anything we say as parents is immediately suspect to him. What do we know about being athletes? I don't even skate, for pity's sake!

So my husband did a little digging and found an amazing quote from one of the most superstar of all superstar athletes: Mr. Michael Jordan. Here's the quote and a segment from the article on him that sums it all up quite nicely :

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

But Michael admits he lost hundreds of games. He missed thousands of shots in his career. He failed multiple times.

And yet he says, this is exactly why he is a success.

Michael Jordan wasn't born a basketball star. He spent hours and hours practicing.

It took time.

It took great coaching.
And it took persistence.

And there you have it, writers. Persistence. Practice. Doing something again even when you failed at it before. Superstar athletes know this. They know they will fail. And they know that learning from failure is the key thing that will help you, eventually, succeed.

We're going to print this Michael Jordan lesson out for our son so he can tack it on his wall. But you know what? I think I'm going to print one out for myself too. We all need to remember the lesson: Failure breeds success. Don't be afraid of it. Learn from it.

We Live Who We Believe We Are

http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/468/new-year-new-life-2

A wonderful thing about Twitter - you get sent these terrific links that you'd probably never come across otherwise. The amazing Michelle Rowen retweeted this Tony Robbins link to a free video on his website that was so insipirational (duh - what else would it be. It's Tony Robbins!) - I had to write about it in a blog post.

There were dozens of quotes in this video that made me finally understand why Tony Robbins is such a force in the change your life, be who you want to be world. Yeah, there are so many "power of positive thinking" speakers and writers out there but I finally got what makes Tony Robbins different. He doesn't just say "Think and it will be" it's more like "Work at what you want to become". That message is much more empowering to me than just thinking about something.

The most important message in this video to me was about Raising Your Standards. You are only as good as what you think you are or want to do. But it's not just about raising standards. You have to back up standards with rituals. Visions need rituals. THAT's where the power is - it's the little things you do every day that help you succeed. You want to write a book? It's not enough to say that. You have to write - every day or whatever your ritual will be - to accomplish it. You want to write a better book than the last one? Raise Your Standards and figure out what will make the next book bigger, better, and stronger. The only thing that will make you happy is if you step up - always progress.

There were so many quotes to get inspiration from but here are just a choice few that resonated with me:

People are rewarded in public for what they do in private.

Great ideas don't interrupt you - you have to chase them.

Success and failure are not giant events. Failure comes from the little things we DON'T do.

There is the pain of discipline and there is the pain of regret. Which do you think is worse?

Demand more from yourself than anybody else.

It's not what we get that makes us happy - it's who we become.

So on the day that's supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, I am instead feeling hopeful, motivated and inspired. And it doesn't hurt that all the amazing writing awards like the William C. Morris, Newberry, Printz etc. were awarded to some awesome writers. Writers that are also an inspiration.

Live who you believe you are. All the rest will follow...

Well Hello 2010! Will We Be a Good Match?

I've been waiting a long time to see you, New Year. Pull up a chair. Let's chat a bit before we begin our new shiny 365 days together, shall we?

Oh, I know I've put a lot of pressure on you even before you showed up on my door. I mean a year that promises me the publication of my first book in April has a lot of hopes and wishes already on its shoulders. So what more can I expect from you? Really, the fact that you showed up at all is enough. I shouldn't ask you for more.

But just in case you want to really hang out with me, really get to know me and not just be a flashy one-time Charlie who wines and dines me in the spring then moves on leaving me waiting by the phone for the next eight months, let me tell you what I'm all about and what I'm looking for in an awesome 2010. Here, have a glass of wine and put your feet up. We have time.

I know you're still young and have too much energy but I admire patience in a Year. Hopefully, you'll be able to offer that as I write my next novel. I love the splashy events you have planned (book publication, book launch etc.) but I also love the not so glamorous companionship that a good Year gives me - the time spent just writing quietly and revelling in a good story hopefully well told. Can you give me that patience and time?

I also like to learn something from a good Year. What can you teach me that will help me grow and become a better person?

Will you be a Year that runs roughshod over my emotions only giving me drama and stress or will you make life fun, exciting and carefree?

In essence, 2010, what kind of Year will you be for me? We'll be taking this journey together - I'm investing a lot of hope and time in you and I hope - I really, really hope - that when our time is up (and we know that we will only have this one year together)that I can look back on our time and say: "That was one of the best Years of my life. I'll never forget it."

Oh, you've finished your wine? You're ready to start our adventure together too? I'm so glad I haven't scared you off with my expectations. Okay. I'm ready. Let's go for it!

It's Not Always About the Quantity

I've been stressing a little bit about how I'm not building up the wordcount as fast as I'd like with this WIP. I had some major time over the weekend to write on the hockey bus road trip (a bus full of active ten year old boys is not that dissimilar from a crowded subway train where I manage to do lots of writing) but I only did about ten pages or so. Not a huge amount but not bad since prior to that I'd been squeaking out maybe a page or two every couple of days. Seriously below my usual writing rate.

But something interesting happened a few days ago. I wrote two short paragraphs. That's all. And then I stopped to re-read them. Why? Because in those two simple paragraphs I'd found the essence of my heroine. The 'why' of her existence and discovered the intrigue of wanting to get to know her even more. I was finally hooked by her when before I'd wondered if she was going to be this bland stereotype throughout the book. If she was, why would I want my hero to spend any time with her? That was what was causing me to write so slowly. I was still figuring her out.

You see, I hadn't truly gotten a handle on her until I'd written that measly bit of wordcount - about 100 words in total. Once I'd written those two paragraphs the writing became easier - faster. Sometimes it only takes a sentence or two that will release the torrent of words later.

So what's the moral of all this?

Don't worry if your words are squeaking out at a snail's pace. Quantity is certainly nice and definitely important in finishing that dreaded first draft but even in the driest of deserts you can find some moisture that will keep you going. Keep writing, even when you're in a dry patch, even if it's just a few hundred words at a time. Because you never know which words will be the ones to release the floodgates.

No Writing Allowed

At least for the next two weeks that is.

I finished the second intense draft of my WIP and even though I know it needs another go through - another 'intense' go through - I am abstaining from the urge to take out the red pen. Instead, since I'll be headed up to the cottage for a week, I will read, read, read (as much as 3 kids and a hubby who will want to kayak, canoe, hike - you know active things? *shudders* will let me). I know that taking a break from my editing side and becoming a reader again will help the next draft. I will have removed myself from the euphoria of feeling finished and be able to see the warts on my my 'frog of a story waiting to turn into a prince of a novel' much easier.

It will be hard not to write especially since I have another story percolating in the back of my brain and another one already written that needs such an intense revision I might as well start it from scratch again. But these breaks are necessary for me. I need to read the story like a reader, not a writer. And it will help that my good bud/CP Stephanie will be reading it too since she hasn't seen a word of it. Two weeks will give me the distance I need to hear criticisms without falling into a puddle of "OMG. I just can't change that or add more! I'm sick of the story. Don't you know it's DONE??" Instead, I'll be able to apply solutions to any problems that are inevitable in a WIP. I'll be happy to tear into it again.

I guess there's something to be said for the old cliché "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". In a writer's case, the cliché can be re-written to say "Absence makes the story get better."

On being confident ...

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2009/02/confident-or-delusional.html


This blog post by J.A. Konrath on the difference between being a confident writer and a delusional one is awesome. I never thought that much about how confidence can be a quiet, not obvious quality within yourself. I have spent countless solitary hours learning and writing. I have tried to connect with with other writers (so I could learn some more) and when I see their talent and experience, my confidence level goes a little like the stock market has lately. But yet, according to Mr. Konrath, the fact that I take suggestions, go back to the writing, do it countless times again, learn from my mistakes (hopefully) and still stick with this job - probably for the rest of my life - means I'm confident that someday, someway I will get published. And that's what J.A. Konrath says is the key to becoming published. Not luck and talent alone. You need to be confident enough to persevere.

I've been writing for six years. I never thought of myself as a patient person but when it comes to my writing, I guess I am. And while I don't think of myself as a necessarily overly confident person - at least with respect to my writing (let's not get into all my writing self-doubts, people) - I guess I am - because I am willing to learn, re-think, re-do, and, most importantly, KEEP GOING. Don't get me wrong, I still need validation - what writer doesn't? I get that from my CP, from my agent and from some really lovely editor rejections. That helps. But true confidence about my writing and my stories? The fuel that keeps my writing engine running? That can only come from me. And the fact I haven't given up must mean I am confident that I have a voice, have a story to tell that will see publication. Because, honestly, if I wasn't confident why would I put up with six years of toil and tribulation and over a million words that have yet to see the light of day? All those hours in front of a computer screen, scribbling in a journal, jotting notes and ideas down in the middle of doing laundry could have been spent doing hundreds of other things. But the fact that I didn't must mean something.

Okay. So, I guess I'm confident.

Or really stupid ...

On Patience

Webster's defines being patient as "steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity". It also says patience is not being "hasty or impetuous".

Now I'm definitely not hasty or impetuous. In fact, I may be accused on occasion of being too cautious. But for someone to ever call me patient - well, not likely. In fact, patience is a virtue that I never believed I could master. I even made it a New Year's goal for myself. And yet, after reading that definition, I'm now wondering if I've actually been practicing what I've been striving for all along. At least when it comes to my writing.

I've been writing for six years. I've worked and waited, gotten excited about possibilities, endured crushing disappointments, and somehow have kept on writing. Steadily. Patiently. I've kept writing. And while I've achieved some important personal goals and milestones along the way, for sure, I've definitely been the tortoise and not the hare in the grand race for publication. I've seen many others cross that finish line before me and cheered their success and I've told myself that one day I'll cross that finish line too. Maybe not in great fanfare or with thousands cheering me on but I'll cross it. In my own way and in my own time. With patience.

Wow. Maybe I really am patient. Huh. Who knew?

Now, if I could just manage to remember that when my kids forget to clean the kitchen for the thousandth time ...