A Journey of a Thousand Miles

It's time for February's submission for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. For those interested in learning more about membership, please click on his name.

Confucius once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

As many of you know, my thousand mile journey began four and a half years ago when I took on project novel. Along the way there were times when I became so frustrated that I wanted to toss my computer in the trash and run screaming for the hills. The hours of writing, re-writing then writing again were soooo daunting that I often asked myself If the novel was worth the effort. Well, I can honestly answer that question with an emphatic YES!!!!

I finally wrote "The End," on my draft last month. There is something to be said for seeing a complex project through to completion. To some extent that, in and of itself, is the reward.

You see, No matter how my journey ends, regardless if I become published or not, I can take pride in knowing I took that step and I completed the journey of a thousand miles. I'm now a stronger person because of it. Until next time my friends, happy writing.

Comments

Sometimes Life Just Gets In The Way

It's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh . If you're feeling down about your writing and need a supportive ear to bend, this is the group to join. For more information, click on Alex's name to be directed to the enrollment link. Lately, life has gotten in the way of my writing. How you ask? Well, I'm in grad school full time. Although I love learning, and academic writing gives me that opportunity, it doesn't hold a candle to the way I feel when I'm working on a fictional story. There's something exhilarating about transporting my characters into another world where anything is possible, and the rules are dictated by my imagination. It's definitely a wonderful escape from my responsibilities. As I'm sure you've discerned, I really, really love writing fiction. Now that most of my major assignments are out of the way, I've eked out some time to work on my novel, an...

You Never Fail Until You Stop Trying

Back in December, I learned about an unpublished novel contest that assessed the following criteria: characterization, setting, plot, dialogue, voice and writing skill. In addition to all this, the MS would receive feedback from the judges. Not a bad deal, right? Although my draft was far from complete, I decided to enter it anyway, reasoning that the critique would identify areas of weakness in my writing. Well, needless to say, I finally heard back last week. The first forty pages of my draft were returned with the following letter attached: The judges had mixed reactions to this particular manuscript, with some feeling it was well- paced and another saying there was not enough plot movement! One questioned whether the dialogue fit the time/ year/culture, while others felt it did. They all agreed on liking the expository details and descriptions, but wondered where the story was going. Consider beginnin...

ISWG Are Online Whisper Groups Bullying YA Authors Out of Publication? What's an Author to Do?

t's time for another installment of the Insecure Writer's Group hosted by the illustrious Alex J. Cavanaugh . To learn more about this supportive group click on the host's name. I feel very strongly about what happened to this author, and I fear it could happen to the rest of us if we don't stick together. Recenty, SCMP reported that after signing a seven figure book deal for the Fantasy, BLOOD HEIR, Chinese author Amelie Wen Zhao was forced to pull it from publication due to allegations of racism. The premise of the highly anticipated Fantasy trilogy was a retelling of Anastasia, except Zhao's adaptation used blood magic. Critics felt the story had racist undertones because of the cover blurb's description of a "World where oppression is blind to skin color and good and evil exist in shades of gray." Many criticisms came from a whispers online group, which, from my understanding are sort of the gate-keepers to approving YA novels. I...

Aspiring Novelists

Search This Blog