Sooooo… I’m a little embarrassed today because for the past few weeks I went through this “Oh, crap. I didn’t achieve everything that I wanted to.” mood. Even though I didn’t finish revising and writing the three novels I have simmering on my machine, I did manage to accomplish the goal I set out to do. That goal for 2011 was to write, revise, polish, and publish more fiction. I talked a little bit about why this was something I wanted to do when I wrote The Queen of Crows: A One Year Retrospective and when I addressed the question: What impression does your website give?.
The reason why I had to pursue this as a goal? Free writing advice, business tips, and/or social networking is not a substitute for telling stories or designing games. Remember, I even went offline for 100 days to test what would happen if I wasn’t around.
Well, the effects of this goal did not go unnoticed in both positive and negative ways. I was trying to figure out why the hell I had to deal with so much crap this year. (See keeping the wolves at bay to understand the context.) I believe this is why, because suddenly I went from nigh-invisible (Oh, hey… Monica’s giving out free advice) to being a threat (Oh, hey… there’s another author out there who’ll steal my readers and focus less on me.) Mind you, I think the entire attitude of writers-as-competitors is complete and utter bullshit. A reader for ONE author doesn’t just read THEIR books. Besides, this is me we’re talking about, who’d rather share a beer / give good cheer / and not jeer. Sheesh!
However, the good things that have come out of my renewed focus on my work are immeasurable. There simply is no substitute for writing, revising, polishing, and submitting. Screw the doom and gloom of the publishing industry. I’m an author and 2011 was the year I started acting like a professional one.
I’m guessing this post is a little more ranty than I intended, but don’t worry! There’s a lot of positive things I want to cover when I post about my 2011 in review. The thing is: I’ve been trying and trying and trying to come up with the “what is me” voice for my blog for some time. There’s been the authoritative voice and the educational voice but the personal voice was on other, more causal websites. This? Talking about the good and the bad and how the two coincide? This is me and I hope my experiences will help you in your own journey as an author, a reader, or as a human being on Planet Earth.
Carry on. (Bring a towel!)
- Mood: Post-Christmas recovery
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Don’t ask.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Lifting fork to mouth.
Word Count Logged Yesterday (not including day job): Unknown. Uploaded/organized ARGENTUM via Scrivener.
In My Ears: Angst playlist on iTunes
Game Last Played: Farmerama
Movie Last Viewed: Robin Hood
Book Last Read: Carpe Jugulum: Discworld by Terry Pratchett
Latest Artistic Project: Byzantium chainmail bracelet with soft pink and black rings
Upcoming Release: Strange, Dead Love for Vampire: the Requiem
Comments are closed.