Michelle Matthews's Blog

Bullet Journals and Organization for Writers

I was pretty fed up with how 2016 turned out. I felt like I had all of these unspoken goals that I didn’t attain and if I did, I had no way of measuring it. When the New Year started I saw most of my writer friends posting that instead of having a resolution they were going to pick a word that would define their year. I couldn’t pick a word. I picked a phrase, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”

That phrase has loads of meaning for me. As a writer in the blogging community, surrounded by other writers who talents are either far above my own (or far below), I often felt passed over. Sometimes, I’ll be honest I wanted to quit writing altogether. It was easy for me to pass the blame elsewhere as to why I had fewer reviews, fewer sales, fewer clicks, likes etc. Then after a full day of feeling sorry for myself, my husband said, “You know, you’re an amazing writer and if you wrote things that were uniquely you, then no one could ignore you.” As much as I hate to admit it, he was right.

My husband made a very successful career out of being so good that they can’t ignore you. He gets job offers every day from all over the world because he has a unique skill set. Some people would say he’s just in the right place at the right time but it took years of practice and study to get him to where he is now. Writing is no different. It will take years of writing and reading to get to the level of where I want to be but I’ll never get there if I don’t start now.

Once I figured out what I wanted to do this year, I had no idea how to get there or how to track it. Through the power of a few Google searches, I discovered Bullet Journaling. The reason why it’s so amazing is that it allows me to keep track of everything. Being a writer and a mom, my life is basically non-stop from 5 am when I get up to write to 9 pm when I finally put the kids to bed. Throw in dealing with my chronic pain/Fibromyalgia and life becomes even more difficult to manage effectively. Call it Fibro Fog or old age but I forget things, A LOT. The bullet journal helps be keep track of appointments, ideas, blog stats, my goals, and everyday things I had to keep in my mind so as not to forget. The constant repetition in my head of, “don’t forget to dump the cat box”, didn’t leave much room for daydreaming about my next book.

So how do you get started?

Define your goals, not your friends’ goals but your own. Sometimes this is the hardest part because we’re flooded by the lives of other people to the point we forget to live our own, by our own standards. I started by making a list of things I wanted to attain and broke them down into three categories, personal, financial, and career. Then, I created a list of tasks to get me there.

[image error]Stat tracker
Tracking your goals is the easy part and dare I say, even fun. One of my goals is to write 1500 words a day, not an easy feat for someone who suffers from Fibromyalgia hand pain. Each day I write down my word count so I can look back and see if I met my goal. I also want to submit short stories for publication, so I created a queries page to keep track of that. I have a page for my blog stats so I can measure my growth over the year. Each month, I go back to my goals page and figure out the tasks that I can accomplish that month to reach that goal.
Have fun with it because there’s no right way to Bullet Journal. I know that can be a scary thing for a writer since we thrive in a world of grammatical rules and formatting. I use my journal as part of my self-care. Being creative is relaxing to me and helps me unwind at the end of the day. The great thing about Bullet Journaling is that it’s there to serve you and become whatever you need it to be.

[image error]My week – organized.
[image error]The books want to read this year.
[image error]I’ll never forget another birthday or take the kids to school on a holiday.

A Contest and an update for August

It’s been a lovely summer, but I am so happy it’s September and the kids are back in school. The cooler temps not only work wonders for my health, but they help create the mood that surrounds The Most Important Thing.

I spent the summer concentrating on my Author Page and Scattered Wrecks, but now that the September is here it’s time to concentrate all my efforts on turning that outline I drafted over the summer months into the novel you’ll read next year. I don’t have a firm release date as of yet, but if I had to give a guesstimate (is that even a word?), it would be early 2017. You can expect to have it in your hands no later than April 2017, but my goal is January/February.

Before I start going on about the second book, I need to tell you all about the giveaway I’m hosting for fall. I’m giving away five signed copies of The Most Important Thing. If you know someone who was on the fence or hasn’t gotten it, please forward this link to them so they can have a chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that we have that out of the way we can talk about the second book! Over the summer I completed my outline. Twice. I hated the first one which I started after the release of The Most Important Thing. I spent the first two months of summer break pondering where I went wrong, banged my head against the wall and doubted myself as a writer. Then inspiration hit and I rewrote the entire outline. It happens. If at first you don’t succeed…

Now I’m excited again about entering Brian’s world and telling his story. Today, I shared only with my mailing list subscribers (so if you haven’t signed up yet, now would be a good time) one of my favorite parts from what I’ve written so far. Every month I’m going to give my mailing list subscribers an update, and they’ll all automatically be entered in a contest to win a copy of my second book. So sign up already, what are you waiting for?

 

What To Do About A Bad Book Review

The first rule of writing should be, never respond to a bad review. Recently, an author friend of mine received a bad review and was pretty upset about it. I gave my friend the same advice that I will give to you, don’t respond and most definitely don’t take it to heart and this is why.After all the writing and editing, you finally get up the courage to put your book out into the world. At first, sales are centered on your family and friends and their family and friends. It’s small potatoes, but eventually, your book will make its way to people who don’t know you and could care less if they hurt your feelings. This is when the sh** gets real.

Being a blogger, (I recommend that every author has a blog if only to practice writing) I’ve grown a pretty thick skin. People say all kinds of nasty things to you, and some of my friends have even received death threats. Blogging helped me grow an armor so that most of the things people say about my writing just bounces off. That said, you should listen to criticism. Your friends and family are not going to tell you your work sucks (unless they’re my family) or that your plot has holes in it but avid readers will. If you start to see many people complaining about the same issue, maybe it’s time to take a look at the work. I’ve had to do it. As a writer, you should never stop honing your skills.

How do I respond to a bad review?

It depends on what the review is saying. Looking back at The Most Important Thing, I’ve gotten some great reviews from people I don’t even know and some really bad ones. Like this one:

When I saw this one, my heart sank, even though overall he gave me 4 stars.  The review taught me something, hire a real editor, not a friend of a friend who does it as a hobby. I also learned to double check things yourself and never be so naïve that people will do what they say. You can best believe that the sequel will be well edited by a professional editor. I figured that after reading that review, my book wouldn’t sell another copy, who would want to buy a book where someone said it wasn’t edited well? I was wrong, and I can admit when I’m wrong. After that review, I went on to sell another 1,100 copies. To date, I’ve had 1,200 eBook downloads for The Most Important Thing.

Then there was my Kirkus Review, after that review on Amazon, I had my doubts about it. I dreaded it would be more to the point. Like actual sleepless nights kind of dread but then May came and there it was sitting in my inbox. At first, I have, to be honest, I cried. I thought there goes my writing career. Then I read their reviews of some well-established authors that were crucified worse than I. Then I went back a month later and reread it and decided it wasn’t that bad after all and I was in Kirkus for crying out loud. KIRKUS! Perspective.

The bottom line is this; reading is subjective. In the end, the biggest thing that helped me was something that Stephen King said in On Writing which I’m paraphrasing, but the gist of it was that writers should write the stories that they want to read and if the masses like it too well then that’s just the icing on the cake.

 

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Pushing Through It: Writing With Chronic Pain

I have been struggling with pain for years. Dealing with being forgetful and blaming it all on, “I’m getting older.” I don’t think you can use that excuse at 36. I’m usually the type of person who keeps their struggles to themselves, but I’ve recently discovered that sometimes sharing your experiences can help other people who are going through the same thing. This page is all about being a resource for other independent authors. I want it to be a space where you can find help and advice for all of the struggles that an independent author might face and one of those is writing through illness.I suffered for years with the pain of Fibromyalgia before I finally gave in, went to a Doctor and received an official diagnosis. I wrote a blog post about how living with it day to day made me feel and was surprised with the response I received. The problem with Fibromyalgia, as one of the readers, pointed out, is that it’s not just all about the pain, it affects other areas of your life as well.

For about a year, I started to have what people call the Fibro Fog. My brain just completely stopped remembering anything. At first, I wrote it off, lack of sleep, mom’s brain, getting older, I always had an excuse. Then one day, I had my kids in the car, and I couldn’t remember how to get home. I was scared, scared enough that I finally saw a Doctor.

Today, I’m writing this post, and my hands are killing me. They feel like I’m trying to write with two hams attached to the nubs I call arms. There is no posture or height correction that will help, it just is what it is. There have been days where I just can’t do it. I sit at my desk and everything from my feet up will start throbbing. My concentration begins to wane, something that I have to fight to keep on a good day, and I know I’m beginning to lose the battle. Today, I am losing the battle. On a good day, I can write a thousand words in an hour, sometimes less. On a bad day, like today, I struggle to write three hundred. I lose focus, forget words and have trouble recalling where I was going with a thought.

Writing The Most Important Thing, was no easy task. Most people, “normal” people have enough problems writing a novel. This added a whole new level determination to my life. I had to find a way to work around my pain and lack of memory. To deal with the pain some days I wrote it out by hand, on good days, I typed, but there were some days where attempting to do either was too much. I’ll be honest, on those days, I hated myself. I doubted my ability and everyone who believed in me. Overcoming my memory issues was an easy fix. I outlined everything. I wouldn’t have to worry about remembering where I was going or what had already occurred in the story with an outline sitting beside me. That outline saved my butt on the days where I couldn’t even remember the characters names.

I’d love to end this post on an upbeat note, something that tells you; you can do it. I know you can, but I also know that it’s hard, and it requires determination and discipline above and beyond just getting your butt in the seat to write. You have to want to finish it. My Fibromyalgia tells me every minute of every day that I won’t, but I say, “Yes, I will.”

 

How To Get Your Self-Published Book Into Stores

You’ve written a book. You’ve gone through the long and sometimes aggravating process of editing, and you’ve given your book out to friends for a response. If you’re anything like me, and I assume you are because you’re here reading this, you want to be able to walk into a store and see your book on a shelf. If that’s your dream, well then keep reading and I’ll tell you how I went about it.

A book release takes a lot of planning, a lot more than I originally thought when I first decided to put The Most Important Thing out into the world. But I’ve learned through trial and error that an ounce of prevention (planning) is worth a pound of cure. You can always go back and fix your mistakes but getting it right, right out of the gate is preferable.

Step 1 – Returnable Books.

There are quite a few options today for self-publishers to create their books. One of the first questions you should ask when evaluating a company is, “Is this book returnable?” If it isn’t, then keep walking. Bookstores are more likely to take a chance on a new author if they know in advance that if it doesn’t sell, they can return it and get their money back.

Once you do decide on a distributor for your book, create your publishing company. The reasoning for this is simple, credibility.  The bookstore representative might not recognize the name of the publisher, but it’s better to have one than for it to say published by Smashwords. When the store rep asks about the publisher, you can tell them it’s a new start-up. There are many small publishing houses out there, and now yours is one of them!

Also, make sure your book has an ISBN without it the bookstores and libraries can’t find your book. Most companies throw in the ISBN for each book you publish, or you can buy your own separately in bulk. You will need a separate ISBN for your hard copy, paperback, eBook, and audiobook if you do one. You have been warned in advance. The one that Kindle gives you is only for Kindle; you will need another ISBN. File that tidbit under shit I learned the hard way.

Step 2 – Professional Reviews.

Before you hit publish, before you even send your book out for a cover, you need to send your work of art out for some professional reviews. I recommend Kirkus, Foreward, and Publisher’s Weekly*. Why? They are well known to book buyers and library systems for giving unbiased reviews even when you pay for them, and it will also give your book more credibility. Getting your review before you do you cover will enable you to be able to put a blurb on the back cover. It typically takes about two to three months to get them back so plan accordingly.

Step 3 – Professionally Designed Cover.

I know that putting a book out in the world is costly and for most of us, we’re scraping pennies together just to get this far. One place not to skimp, the cover. I recommend ebooklaunch. They worked with me on my cover for The Most Important Thing, and I’ve received a lot of awesome feedback about it. They are very easy to work with and respect the author’s vision even if you don’t have one. I went to them with just a summary of what the book was about, and they knocked it out of the park. No matter who you work with get the best cover you can afford, it could pay off down the line because we all know everyone judges a book by its cover.

Step 4 – Press Kit.

This is a must have and if you’re interested in getting a copy of mine so you can see what one should have in it, sign up and I’ll send you a copy. I did a lot of research on what should be included in a press kit for a book. Obviously, it worked because Barnes and Noble is working with me now and I’m very excited about it. It’s not going to be for The Most Important Thing (more on that later) but for my next book due out in January. I have my foot in the door, and that’s what a press kit is all about, getting your foot in the door and introducing yourself.

Step 5 – Send Out Queries.

I’ve gone back and forth on what is the best way to go about it. Should you send them out before you publish or after? The problem with doing it after you publish is that most stores like to do author signings and book launches, Barnes and Noble is no exception, and it’s the reason why we’re going with the next book and not my current one. When you’re starting with a book that has already been out for a while, the representatives can see if it’s selling and if it’s not, they may not want to work with you. I think it might be easier for them to take a chance on a book that interests them from a small publisher if it’s a launch. That’s my thought on the reasoning; I could be wrong. My suggestion is before you hit publish, pick a release date* two months out, to give the people time to read through your press kit and get back to you.

How do you find out who to query?

The best way is to google each bookstore’s corporate site. They usually have a page dedicated to the author and publishing houses for book sales. If they don’t, go through their PR department, they’re always very useful for finding out information about a company. If none of that works or you’re working with a small local bookstore, go in and introduce yourself and bring your press kit. The smaller stores are more likely to work with a smaller publishing house and always market yourself as a local author. I’ve found that a lot of bookstores and libraries like that aspect of working with locals, it gives them and extra selling point.

I hope you’ve found this information helpful, and I wish you luck on getting your book into stores.

 

*Side note on release dates – when you’re picking a date do some research and see what else is coming out on the date you pick BEFORE you commit to it. The last thing you’d want to do is compete with a Stephen King book coming out on the same day as yours if you’re a horror writer. Do your due diligence on that one; it could pay off later.

*Publisher’s Weekly requires the review before launch.

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Getting Started As A Writer: National Short Story Month

I love interacting with everyone on my Facebook page. The one question I get all the time is, “I want to write a novel but I don’t know where to start?”

My response is always the same, write a short story.

George R. R. Martin said, “I suggest that any aspiring writer begins with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That’s like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.” Mr. Martin is 100% correct. Short stories help you develop your skills with dialogue, plotting, characterization and most importantly pacing. 90,000 words can seem daunting when you’re staring at a blank screen, and all you have is just an idea. Sometimes it’s not even an idea it’s just a flash of a dream that you think might at some point develop into something amazing. That’s how all great ideas start, a flash of inspiration usually from an unlikely place. The most important thing (that was not a shameless plug for my book) is to get it down.

I know you’re thinking, “Well that’s easy for you to say you’re not the one staring at a blank screen not knowing what do next.” Writers always say, “just write”, but no one ever says how or what they do when they sit down at their computer, or notepad in my case, to write. They act like it’s a trade secret that no one can divulge. Everyone comes at the process differently. I write differently depending on the project. But I’m going to share with you, my process for writing one of my favorite short stories, The Husband, currently published in Truly Wicked.

When I started The Husband, I had the idea that I wanted to write a story about a woman who kills her husband by exploiting his allergy to fish. That was all I had, and I got that idea because my husband has a seafood allergy. Real original. From there, I asked myself the question, what would motivate her to kill her husband? Infidelity. Easily relatable and done a million times over. But how do I make it different? What if she helped him cover up a murder? Now, I had my plot points but what about emotions and characterization? What if she loved her husband and covered up the murder to protect him? What if she thought that he would change?

Writing, for me, is all about asking yourself questions and being able to answer them through storytelling. How would a character react in this situation? What could they do? What would happen if they did x instead of y or vice versa? The great thing about storytelling, whether it be a short story or a novel is that they all start from some sort of truth for the author. Then that truth is manipulated into a work of fiction. It can be anything from emotions to memories; anything is fair game for a writer. I love Virgina Wolf’s quote, “Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” That’s very true for me as I’m sure it is to some extent with all writers.

The best advice I ever received as a writer is, start with what you know. I knew my husband was allergic to fish, and then I went from there. In other words, sit down, start writing.

***

I promised you all on Facebook something free, and I keep my word. If you’ve been following me, you’ll notice that I’ve done promotions of my book The Most Important Thing for free on Amazon, but all my other readers who don’t use Kindle have been out of luck. In honor of National Short Story Month, I’m my making my book of short stories available for FREE for my Nook, iTunes, and Kobo readers. If you use Kindle, you can get it for .99 which is still super cheap.  I hope you all enjoy it, it’s brand new, and remember if you liked it, leave a review and if you hated it, tell me that too. The only way to become a better writer is through honest criticism, and I welcome it. As Ernest Hemingway said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

 

The Learning Curve of Self-Publishing

It took me about a year, on and off, to finish my novel, The Most Important Thing. I think it will take me just as long to master the art of successful self-publishing.

I chose to be an independent author. Of the various reasons behind that choice the ones that sealed it for me were the countless accounts I read online of people getting an agent but then not selling their book. There were stories of people who were lucky enough to sell their books but then getting zero support from the publisher or even worse, the people who have great books just collecting dust on a shelf because of no interest. The odds didn’t seem to be in my favor at all and yet I still sent out query letters.

You might ask why, if I was so dead set against traditional publishing? The answer is a simple one. I never put all my eggs in one basket. While I waited for responses to the handful of letters I sent out, I prepped my book for publication. This led me to the first thing I learned about self-publishing. Delegation.

Delegate Everything You Can

If I were to do it all over again, I would hire someone to edit my book. Not that I wasn’t capable of doing it myself or that the people who volunteered their time to me weren’t awesome but I would have preferred not to have done any of it at all. I questioned every single choice of word, turn of phrase and scene progression until I wanted never to write again. I’m a perfectionist but there came a point where I had to say, “Good enough” and walk away. Unfortunately, good enough doesn’t float with Type A.

After the entire editing process was complete and I had waited sufficient time for my queries to come back, I published. I put my book on Amazon with very little fanfare. I don’t have a huge following so I didn’t think the book would benefit from presale hype. More importantly, I was eager to get it out there. Sometimes eagerness leads you to make common mistakes.

Always Check Every Single Aspect Of Your Proof.

If I can just take a moment here to admit that sometimes, not often, but sometimes I am prone to bouts of stupidity and this was one of them. I am not tech savvy. It’s not that I don’t want to learn, it’s just that my brain is so full of kid stuff, writing stuff, music lyrics from obscure 60s British pop artists, and randomness that I’ve learned from watching too many documentaries that I can’t fit anything else in there. That said, I still should have double checked that the file I uploaded to CreateSpace was the most up to date version of the book. It wasn’t and yes I sold copies of the incorrect versions. If this should happen to you, you can fix it. All you have to do is upload the new copy and the system will take down the old version. Problem solved but I’m still kicking myself for it because, perfectionist.

Once I cleaned up that mess, I could focus on marketing my book. I was already a participating member of a few blogging communities so that helped somewhat. I had a group of friends who were eager to help me share the news of my book release for which I am very grateful. Unfortunately, I am not a gregarious person and my network is very limited. As a result, I’ve had to find some books to help me navigate the world of marketing.

Admit You Are John Snow When It Comes To Marketing Your Book.

I’m woman enough to admit when I know nothing and this is one of those occasions. When in doubt, research. Through my research, I’ve come across a few books that have been very helpful thus far and I hope by sharing them it will at least give you a good place to start or help you discover something you may have missed. They are, Discoverability, Write. Publish. Repeat., Let’s Get Visible, and Successful Self-Publishing. The first two of that list being my favorite of the bunch and the most helpful to me. I cannot stress enough the importance of doing your research because you never know what Google might lead you to especially if your genre is different from my own.

The Power Of Facebook Groups

I won’t lie to you, I don’t think Facebook sells books in the way I think or maybe you would even think. At least for me, I used to think that if I put an ad on Facebook, someone clicks it, lands at your book’s page and buys the book. Yeah, what rose-colored glasses was I wearing on that one? The power of Facebook as I see it now lies in the connections I made and am making through the fifty or so Kindle and ebook groups that I have joined. These are all connections that have so far led to reviews, book promotion and pretty much leading me in the right direction. I would suggest that for whatever genre you’re in, even while you’re writing your novel, join the groups, form relationships and help others. Good juju always comes back to help you later.

After doing all that, I’m now back at the beginning of the process, writing a book. It’s funny how everything in life is cyclical. Only now, I’m working more productively through the discovery of Scrivener. I have to admit it is hard to get back into the routine of writing while simultaneously trying to promote. I can see why some people would rather traditionally publish or not publish at all. Six-figure deals aside, not having to do everything and just write, is a nice perk. While I don’t regret my decision, it is a lot harder than I first thought it would be but nothing worth doing is ever easy.

I wish you luck and I hope this post was helpful.

Sharing is caring and Happy Writing!

M.E. Matthews

P.S. If you happen to have an incorrect copy of The Most Important Thing, e-mail and I will send you a signed replacement for free. It only refers to hard copies bought between 2/10/2016 and 2/26/2016.

 

The Most Important Thing: My Favorite Chapter

When I look back on writing my first published novel, I’ll have to say that this was my favorite chapter to write. It’s a simple flashback that the main character has about her marriage. Their conversation illustrates a lot about their characters and it was also fun to write. Also, while you read it, (even though it’s never stated), if you read Jeff’s part with a New York accent it’s even funnier.

Brie thought about yesterday and closed her eyes. She could still feel his lips on hers as well. She cried because the thought excited her and she knew it was wrong. Jeff had never written her letters like that. Not even in the beginning. The longer she was away, locked in this room with all the time in the world to think, she wondered why she held on to him.

He’s so good looking, she remembered thinking when he first came over to her in The Pizza Shack. She thought that it was a practical joke. Sure, she was attractive in her own right but most people described her as cute, he was gorgeous. They were very different people, even then. He was a people person, she a classic introvert. They weren’t married a year when he first cheated on her. She remembered their little kitchen, their first house could fit inside of the one they owned now. She sat there in their little kitchenette with the rooster border crying, not knowing what to do.

Melanie with tears in her eyes said, “How could you do this to me, to us?”

“I still love you, baby, I just got confused. All this being married stuff. She meant nothing to me.”

“I’m sure you told her the same thing about me.”

“How could you say that? You mean everything to me.”

Melanie started to cry even harder when Jeff walked over and took her in his arms.

“Let me tell you something about men. Real men cheat and real women get over it. You wanna know why?”

“Why?”

“You remember that bottle of Merlot I bought you, the Bogle Vineyards?”

“Yes.”

“You remember how you just loved it, drank it all the time. You must have drank like 10 bottles of it.”

“I remember.”

“Then one day you got tired of it, I brought it home and you said you were in the mood for something different. You still loved it but you had drank so much of it that to drink it, literally made you wanna throw up. You remember that?”

“Yes, it did.”

“So I got you a Cabernet and you liked it but not as much as the Merlot. You even drank the shitty white from that vineyard in Harrisonville for a while but you always went back to the Merlot.”

“Okay.”

“Babe, you’re my Merlot. I love you and no matter what I may go out and drink, eventually it’s gonna taste like shit and I’m gonna come back to my Merlot.”

Brie had to laugh at herself for actually believing him then. She looked down at the rings on her hand and pulled them off, throwing them across the room. Melanie thought that if she ever got out of this, she was definitely divorcing him. She wanted a better a life with someone that would respect her as much as love her.

 

#Amwriting

I’ve been a busy bee. I feel like I did more in the last year than I’ve done in my entire life. (Which is kind of sad when I think about it). That either makes me one lazy individual or I’ve been hustling like a pro.

In other news…

The novel is finished. I’d love to lie to you and say it as the easiest thing I’ve ever done but it wasn’t. I think childbirth was actually easier and we all know how that went. There were days when I sat down and I couldn’t type the words fast enough. More often than not there were days when the thought of sitting at the keyboard brought me to tears but I did it anyway. I felt inadequate and totally inept. Yet, it was my story and I was the only one who could tell it. I still feel unqualified and mostly a hack for even attempting to write anything and have the audacity to call it a work of fiction.  But there it is, completed and sitting beside me on my desk, the proof of it all.

I am tempted to take a break. To blog or to write short stories but I know I can’t. I have to keep in the flow of things and start writing novel number two. It’s in my head, the characters have all introduced themselves to me and they are ready to start the long dance that will push them out of my head and onto the page, but am I ready? I guess I’ll just have to be.

But before I start talking to you about novel number two, we should start with the first, The Most Important Thing. Yes, I know it’s a wordy title but when you read it, you’ll get it. I sent out about 100+ query letters and to date all rejections but nice ones. One, in particular, was especially touching and didn’t seem like a form letter at all. I think she was really torn about having to turn it down and genuinely encouraged me to keep pitching it. The only problem is, I’m not one to toot my own horn. I’m horrible at it so I decided to go the route of self-publishing. I’m sure that my book will get discovered in the same way my blog posts got discovered by Huffington Post and Scary Mommy, by just putting it out there and letting the chips fall where they may. I’m a big believer in fate, if it’s meant to be, it will happen.

As of right now, The Most Important Thing is sitting on my desk, waiting for a cover and I have every hope that it will be released on Amazon just in time for the summer season (fingers crossed). Until then, I’m going back to writing because idle hands and all that…

Dear Losers of NaNoWriMo

Dear Losers of NaNoWriMo,

I use that term loosely because I don’t think you’re losers at all.

I have a love/hate relationship with National Novel Writer’s Month. I love the community that NaNoWriMo fosters. Writers are very isolated creatures. We need a space to call home and a tribe that understands us. I would say we need that more than we need oxygen. It’s hard to explain to your spouse why you’re up at three in the morning banging your head against the wall because you forgot that awesome paragraph you just wrote in your head but now with pen and paper in hand, it’s gone. The community that NaNoWriMo attempts to foster on and offline is worth its weight in gold. I applaud that.

Then, there’s the other side, the idea of winning if you can write 50,000 words in a month. From concept to actual words on a page, I would say it’s taken me almost a year to write my current novel, with six months to actually get to 50,000 words. Writing 50,000 words is hard. Unless you get all Jack Torrance and write “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” 5,000 times (you can thank Stephen King for that idea), it’s not going to happen in 30 days for an amateur writer. Most professional writers that I’ve researched take about three months to write the first draft and you’re beating yourself up about not finishing 50k in 30 days, so don’t.

Blood, sweat, tears and tantrums went into every single one of my 50,000 words. There were days I didn’t write at all, sometimes even weeks would go by and not a word was typed but it was always on my mind. That sense of failure because I wasn’t in front of a keyboard typing, something, anything. That was when I would remember what my mentor at Yale taught me about writing and the writing process. It is a process. You’re not going to be able to sit down and write every single day, life happens.  Nor should you only write and/or think about your novel when the muse strikes you. On the days when you can’t write a single word, think about your characters, read novels that are in your genre, work on your outline but always have your story on your mind. Who knows where your next idea might come from so always be open. How are you supposed to work through this process when you’re mentally under the gun to write 50,000 words in 30 days?

Have I ever completed NaNoWriMo? That answer would be a big fat no. I signed up both this year and last but never did anything with it. Last year, it was because I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and it was just a bad season for me. I could barely get out of bed, the thought of writing one word let alone 50,000 would have been mentally debilitating and I was already in a bad way. This year, I felt it was cheating to use a work already in progress and almost at 50,000 words anyway. I could have started my second work but I just wasn’t mentally ready to start it, I needed to finish my current project first. That said, I don’t think I would have done it anyway because I just don’t feel like you can write 50,000 words in 30 days and not have half of it wind up thrown out. Thirty days isn’t enough time to be creative and go through the process and better yet, enjoy the process of bringing your world to the page.

Now, before you all get on me for saying that all the people who won NaNoWriMo are bad writers, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m sure Stephen King farts 50,000 words and every single one of them is amazing. Unfortunately, we all aren’t Stephen King. What I’m saying is this, we as writers beat ourselves up enough. It shouldn’t matter if it takes 30 days or 10 years as long as you get it out. It would be a shame to discourage someone who has beauty in them. 50,000 imaginative, glorious, wonderful words just waiting to leap onto the page only to get discouraged when they couldn’t get them out in 30 days. Imagine what the world would have missed if they stopped writing if you stop writing. So don’t stop writing.