J.R. Pearse Nelson's Blog, page 8

Own Your Writing Career: Take Advantage of Excitement!

How do you decide what to write next after you finish a book?

It is possible that when you finish writing a book your mind doesn’t go instantly to the next one you’ll write, and that’s fine, too. We all have our own degrees of writer crazy. Mine happens to be particularly amped up at this point in my artistic growth. I just can’t get enough. My heart soars when I put one project to bed and get to choose between the competing storylines in my head for my next big focus.

Right now I have two book threes to write, each the final book in a trilogy, so that’s a little extra pressure on this choice. One of them is overdue, and it should be my next book. I’d promised when I started this last one that it was going to be my next book…

It’s not! It’s not going to be my next book! lol

I just finished writing Crestfallen (Water Rites, #2), my editor is still on her first read through, and I’m on to Castle and Crown (Water Rites, #3)! I can’t help myself. I’m following Lorelei into the deep — I have to finish my selkies and evil mermaids ode to the sea.

How can I justify this? Oh, jeez. I can’t.

If you’re a writer you might feel me. Maybe you’ve faced a similar choice. Did you also come down on the side of the project you’re most excited about?

I think that following the excitement means that I accumulate more wordcount overall. Basically, I win from a production stand-point, and I’m also ecstatically happy about working this way.

Why do I win from a production stand-point?

This goes back to another particular about my workstyle, and that’s my “many projects are better than one!” motto. I always have at least two major books (novellas or novels) started. Sometimes I get more backed up than that, but then I start to be berzerk and I quickly tame that beast by putting some of them away in their files for much later. (Right now I’m resisting starting the first book in my next series, for this very reason. Two book threes! FOCUS, WOMAN!)

The benefit comes into play because I inevitably get bogged down in a project I’ve been heavily focused on. I’ll find myself unwilling to even open the document one day. It suddenly feels like a mountain I’m being forced to climb, and today, I just don’t want to. Now…when I’ve tried to be strict with myself about focusing on one project only, these days have been a loss. I just won’t write at all. But when I give myself the freedom to say, “Hey, not feeling that today, but look at this bright and shiny over here….” I end up with some great story starts, and sometimes with the momentum to finish a short story, or to write the first scene or two of a future book and a bunch of notes about why I’m excited about it. The day isn’t a total loss. It’s also useful on the occassions that I have a lot of time to write. Sometimes I’ll be able to drive my major project forward for a few hours, but then I get bogged down and I don’t want to work on that anymore. But if I switch over to bright and shiny….echo what I said a moment ago.

Overall, I get far more accomplished by going where the excitement lives, and I’m also a happier writer.

My next post is going to be about finishing what you start, because that’s the other side to this coin. The key for me has been making time for both. I know that I need to be moving one major project toward publication at all times, since publishing regularly is one of my goals. And then I know I’ll make detours along the way to do whatever the hell I want, because why else would I be doing this at all?

For a full list of Own Your Writing Career posts in the order they were written, visit my Writers page. I’ll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

“Own Your Writing Career: Take Advantage of Excitement!” copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Own Your Writing Career: Don’t Worry about Being Wronged — Just Write

I want to bring this up because it is my fervent hope that you’ll find your path to productivity, and joy, in your writing. A focus on the wrong aspects of work/life/ or whatever can keep you from that productivity.

I’ve seen this come up with writers in multiple ways, and I’ll mention a few so that when you see the warning signs you can start to change those thought patterns that’ll make you waste days on matters entirely outside of your control, so that you can reclaim that time FOR THE GOOD OF MAN!! Or for the good of your writing, or just to give you more time.

Please don’t get mad at me for the examples I use. I am in no way saying that these things are good, or that writers should never think about them. What makes me sad for writers is seeing people get VERY CAUGHT UP in some perceived wrong, and spend a lot of time just stressing over it, getting paranoid in other aspects, and letting it reduce their productivity drastically. That is unnecessary, and I quite simply don’t understand how people can live like that.

So….examples.

The pirating of books. A bad thing, of course! But don’t get so caught up in the wrong being done that you forget to write your next book. No matter how many pirating sites you personally take on, it is doubtful to affect your sales as much as producing your next book. If you’re that personally affronted by the topic, then spend whatever time on it you like, but please don’t be obsessed. And especially don’t spend a bunch of time spouting off about the wrong being done you on social media. It doesn’t look good on you, I promise.

A so-called “negative” review. I don’t believe any review is actually negative. It’s good of readers to take their time and leave a review for our products. Even a low-rating, if explained, can lead someone else to buy the book. But I digress here…the truth is that time spent worrying over reviews at all is time you could have spent writing your next book. And please, don’t let early reviews stop you from keeping at it. What do we need as writers, as storytellers? Let’s hear it, folks! MORE PRACTICE! Don’t give up because you’re not yet at the level you want to be. Neither am I. All I can do about that is keep on working and striving toward that glory I can see on the horizon. I don’t believe I’ll ever reach it — it’s like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So don’t worry over reviews, just keep on working toward what you want to be, and writing the stories you love — the ones you want to read but can’t find.

They stole my idea. *sigh* This is such a misplaced focus, and getting hung up here will cost you. Ideas are floating out there. I could spout off two lines right now that have probably been made into a story. And I could combine that with another two plot lines at random, and that story’s probably been done, too. Who cares? No one has ever written that story like you did, or like you will. It is ALL in the execution. Are your characters believable, or better yet, loveable? Are your scenes compelling? Dialogue rich with meaning? Surprises lurking around every corner? This is the stuff readers read for. They might see a couple of books with similarities in the description, and that might actually be a good thing, from their perspective. It’s never a happy moment when you finish a book on a theme that you found really compelling. I know that I read many books with strong similarities.

What do you gain by focusing on these things? And how much do you lose by allowing this misplaced focus to rob you of your hours?

If you notice yourself obsessing over something outside of your control, work to bring yourself back into the correct focus, which is on your goals, the part of this whole venture that is within your control.

Here’s one possible strategy: I find that in my worst times of doubt or of taking these strange obsessive side roads, if I can just progress in some small way on my goals by the end of each day, I call it a win. Making small amounts of progress toward your goals each and every day will add up fast. And checking in on those goals each day will help to ground you and keep you moving forward, feeling much more positive than in the days when you worried over that person who said something negative a week ago.

For a full list of Own Your Writing Career posts in the order they were written, visit my Writers page. I’ll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

“Own Your Writing Career: Don’t Worry about Being Wronged — Just Write” copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Own Your Writing Career: Make YOUR Art (Your Way)

There is no correct way of writing fiction. (Duh!) If there was, creative writing classes would be a whole lot more concrete. There is no right way, and every way will take practice to get great at it. But here’s the cool thing, the one thing that will always keep me coming back to writing fiction — I am the only one who can write the stories I will write. That’s the most enticing idea ever, to me at least. Finding out what I’ll come up with next is part of what drives me. 

Do you ever find yourself looking for a book to read, and dissatisfied with the choices out there? Hmm…Why don’t they have a fairytale about a grown up girl who inherits a reclusive aunt’s century-old mansion and within discovers a doorway that transports her from this world into Fae-land where she becomes a dragon rider and warlord in a battle to save the earth from the overrunning demon hordes?

Whatever it is — write that book. Write the book you would love to read if only you could find it. Don’t stifle yourself because “people don’t write like that any more” or “everyone knows superheros are for losers” or “the last show like that got canceled after one season.”

Who cares if you can tell there’s interest in general about a topic or theme or style that you’re interested in writing. Who cares. 

For one thing, you don’t really know what others are interested in reading. We know what sells of what is on the market…but not what people would like to see on the market.

I’m stopping there with that train of thought because it is essential that your concerns about marketability or “worthiness” from a consumer standpoint do not derail your pursuit of what you love.

Not only will you have more fun and write more often when you’re writing topics, characters and themes that are close to your heart, but others can tell that you were in love with your work, too. People are drawn to the sincerity that came out of making art for art’s sake and worrying about who might like to read it much later.

Are you excited? I hope you’re excited. This freedom to create simply because I love something is so wonderful — it makes my writer life worth living. So get excited, indulge in that which you love, make the books you want to read. Write the stories you need to write. Just make stuff because it’s the most glorious fun you’ve ever had, or because you feel a glimmer of something beyond definition and it is only understandable through story. (JOY. INTUITION. Is it coming together yet?)

I also want to talk about the freedom to figure out what works for you. (The “your way” part.)

When I started being truly productive with my fiction writing, I always wrote in the morning. It felt like I needed to be fresh and have quiet time to get anything done. I struggled to get the words on the page, and especially to do so in an appealing order for stretches of pages at a time. *grin* 

That’s all okay, it’s part of the learning curve and every writer has to practice to get past it. But most authors I know will tell you it got easier to get past it when they broke out of old habits and just kept trying new things, finding what worked and then doing that until they got stuck, and going back to the drawing board to try something new. One thing many writers have in common is an inquisitive nature that will not be put down by a single failure. Unfortunately, many of us also get hung up in fear. For some that’s the end of writing. For many it is just one more thing to learn about ourselves, so that we can keep pushing toward our best work, which is still down the road.

Give yourself this freedom. Your patterns may have worked a year or two ago, but they might be sticking you up now. Try the opposite. You used to write in two-hour long sessions and it worked great, but now you can’t get yourself to sit down for that marathon? Try twenty-minute sessions, with short breaks in between. Try chains of two or three twenty minute sessions at opposite ends of the day. You might find that with these shorter bursts of work you’re actually more productive, and more likely to sit down and do the day’s work.

Do you sometimes dread your office? I work in there for my day job, and insist on doing all of my book formatting, uploading and business management there. I also manage the family business there. Honestly, it’s become a less-than-creative space for me. I write better at the dining room table, or out in the world at a coffee shop or restaurant. (Sidenote: I’ve discovered the joy of having someone bring me food and drink while I write a chapter. Talk about the joy place!)

I also have kids, a day job and a busy family schedule — and I actually like to spend time with my husband now and again, for goodness sake! So it’s been a challenge to figure out what works in terms of getting my writing work done, but also making it seamless and almost invisible for my family, who do not deserve to bear the brunt of my heady ambitions. lol

This brings me to another point. We all have different needs. Those needs in terms of other commitments and interests can’t just be ignored when the fiction decides to pour out of us. That might be how you get started, but it won’t work over the long term. Think ahead of time about how you fit in extra writing sessions when the going is good. And always forgive yourself if you don’t make it one week. Overall, discipline will pay off far more than “waiting for the muse.”

I’ve done wacky things over time to fit in my writing. At times, I get up in the middle of the night and work on plotting something out, or on some reading to do with publishing or creativity. I have hangouts stashed around my city and between my home and my workplace 60 miles away, so if I have a bit of time I can stop off and get in a few words. I leave the computer set up at the dining room table on weekend mornings and days off, and can often get in my personal minimum goal before the rest of the family is ready for breakfast.

My husband is a big help, and I’m a lucky woman that he has been so patient as I put countless hours into developing my storytelling skills, many more into the business side of publishing, and all of it without profit of any tangible sort. (Though they say happy wife=happy life, so that may be his reasoning. lol We’re actually both very supportive of each other’s pursuits, and we both have them. ). Take people up on that support, where you can. And if you don’t have support or much time at all, try to figure out where you can squeeze in some time, even a half an hour a few days a week.

Figure out what works for you. Make YOUR art and make it your way.

Does that mean you shouldn’t listen to anyone else?

Of course not! Always listen! Give me a break! Do you want to spend your whole life re-inventing ideas that are already floating around out there? Read up on what works for other authors. This will give you ideas about what might work for you. Then adapt those methods to your own life, your own needs, and TAKE OFF!

Right?

Go for it. Have FUN!

I’ll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

“Own Your Writing Career: Make YOUR Art (Your Way)” copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

New Website!

…which you know, because you’re here!

Welcome to my new home on the web. I’m pretty proud of it — I didn’t think I could build such a gorgeous site, and that just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge your abilities without giving something a shot. If you’re driven to learn something, there are so many tools on the web to help you (check out youtube videos, articles and blog posts by searching for help when you get stuck).

But that’s enough about building the site. I’m glad it’s up and running now and I’m all moved over to my new home!

I have a couple of new features on this website that I didn’t have before. The biggest? A Members page, complete with two full novels (each the beginning of a series) that you can read for free if you sign up for my newsletter!

This Blog page is going to look a bit odd for a few weeks, because of all of the free chapters and Members content I added before going live. It’ll get back to a regular, bloggy style in the next few weeks and it’ll just be the archives that look weird. I’ll be posting about inspiration, my writing and releases, and the Own Your Writing Career series, just as I did on my Blogger blog.

If you’re here to read my Own Your Writing Career series, check out the Writers page, where all the posts are linked, in order.

Also, I’m VERY close to finishing Crestfallen, the second book in my Water Rites series. Check out the Books page for more on my fiction.

Thanks for visiting!

Visit my Books page for more on my fiction!

 

Own Your Writing Career: Your Writing Depends on the Depth of Your Well

Burnout is a major problem for writers, and artists of many stripes. Sometimes we feel we’re in a race, either to finish this book so we can get to the next one, or to get the words out as fast as they’re forming in our minds. I have often sat at the computer far too many hours in a day, with too few breaks. I’ve come back at it day after day, still chasing the story my mind is creating, and still not managing to keep up.
I could produce at my top speed every day of my life, and I still won’t write all of the stories I want to tell. That’s a lot of mental pressure that can add up to unnecessary and unproductive stress if I take myself too seriously.
I am prone to pushing myself a little too hard, to avoiding friends and declining evenings out, to a focus that can be all-consuming.
In the long run, taking breaks and enjoying the other fun things life has to offer, outside of writing, pays dividends in new ideas and a higher quality of life.
If you want to keep making art, don’t be a slave to it. That way lies burnout central.
Do those things that bring you joy. I don’t know what that is for you. For me, it’s books, including fiction and nonfiction on all sorts of weird topics that I get to read for “research.” Hehe. I also love to window-shop in some of the great walking districts in town, while chatting with my mom, or my best friend. I love to get together with friends and break bread together -- with more chatting. I love to take short trips to the many lovely places around my home in the Northwest, to see the natural sights and unwind as I can only seem to do when out of town. That’s me. If you don’t have an answer to this question, here’s your invitation to work on it! FUN!!!
See your friends and family. We need our people. Writing is largely a solo gig, and once you’ve really started to develop as a writer, no one will completely understand what you’re up to. But that doesn’t have to be of topmost importance all the time. We need to visit, to laugh and cry together, to touch and be touched. Don’t turn down too many invitations. Take the opportunity to enjoy the company of other humans -- ones who aren’t inside your head.
Spend time in nature. Breathing fresh air is good for the soul. Noting the transition of the seasons, the cycle of the moon, the plants and small animals...these are all signals that we are part of something much larger than ourselves; that not everything is in our control, and that what is outside of our control can be beautiful, surprising, and all-together wonderful.
Play with children or animals (best de-stressor I know!!). Play is something that adults don’t do enough. We need laughter, we need small triumphs and comical challenges. We need joy. Remember to play.
When you pay attention to the depth of your well -- all of those experiences and connections that make you uniquely you -- your writing will naturally improve. 
Have you ever had a writing problem that’s been stumping you, and in the oddest location, when your mind is completely focused on something else (you think!) it all comes together, like magic? Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and it began to feel like a scene in a book, and you get the BEST IDEA EVER?
That is the deep well. That is the permission to be a full human, not just a writing machine. You need it. Human experience drives story.
Go out and live.
Your writing depends on the depth of your well.

I'll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!


"Own Your Writing Career: Your Writing Depends on the Depth of Your Well" copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Own Your Writing Career: Buy Services AND Build Skills

I don’t know everything. Let’s just start from there. None of us knows everything. 

Everyone comes at this writing pursuit with different backgrounds and skills. Some of us can tell a great story -- have readers at the edge of their seats and keep them there -- but we need a good editor for our work to really shine. Some of us have marketing chops, and come ready to do serious business with our writing careers. Some of us have a smattering of skills, and make up the rest as we go along. One characteristic that tends to connect writers is the drive to keep on learning.
One of the best ways to learn is from each other. When it comes to the creative aspects of a writing career, and to the business side, we have to keep chasing the writers we admire, practicing and getting better with each and every book.
I always consider building my own skills before I contract for any purchased service. Yet I come down on the side of purchasing services fairly frequently.
Here are my considerations when evaluating whether to learn a skill or contract for a service: How much would the skill in question benefit my arsenal in the long term? How much time do I anticipate investing in learning the skill? (Multiplying the hours by my hourly wage gives me a rough calculation of financial investment in learning.)How much does it cost to contract for the service instead of learning to do it myself?How often will I need to purchase these services if I don’t pick up the skill? (Multiplying the anticipated number of purchases by the cost gives me financial investment in purchasing services.)How excited am I by the possibility of learning the skill?
That last one is important. I have invested countless hours, for instance, in developing cover design skills. I think that investment has benefited me because I can now picture how to take an image of stock photography and craft a compelling cover. But my cover design chops are not grand -- I’m not a visual artist. I would need countless more hours to really become one. Thus, cover art is one of those areas where I do a lot of purchasing. I am currently releasing short stories with my own cover designs, as I plan to finish up a lot of shorts over the next couple of years and can’t currently afford that many covers, and because for me the math doesn’t work -- I don’t think I can make back the initial investment in cover art within the next couple of years. Eventually, yes, every story will probably make me at least $50. Either way, for now that’s my strategy.
I don’t use myself as an example because I think you should make the same decisions I’m making. I’m trying to point out all of the issues we need to decide as we publish fiction, and show you a bit of reasoning from my own experience. Your math could be quite different from mine -- so don’t take anything I say here in terms of specific strategies to be “the one way.” I don’t believe in any one way.
I will give another example of this dichotomy between buying a service and building a skill, and how you can potentially get the best of both worlds.
I’m building a new website. I’ve been thinking about it for ages. I had a decent idea of what I wanted and the questions I’d need to research at the onset, which was very valuable. With a large project it pays to take the time to consider what you’re after, before you’re too far into the weeds to backtrack to a suitable trail.
Still, as I researched I decided that I don’t currently have the technical chops that were needed to get where I wanted to go as quickly as I wanted it to happen. Something was going to have to give, because the math wasn’t working out. I decided it would be both the budget (larger) and the timeline (longer). Then I began to see my path forward.
I didn’t purchase a LOT to get the website rolling, but instead of learning to build a site from scratch, I purchased a premium WordPress theme, and paid for it to be installed. That cost me $97 total. Deciding to purchase those services moved me what felt like lightyears ahead. I already had a list of premium themes I liked, and I began going through them with fresh eyes. I wrote up a detailed “must have” list and shopped it around to my favorites. In no time I had a theme, and by the next day it was installed and ready for me to start design.
I am investing the time to learn to work with shortcodes on my site, because it will save me major time and pain in the future to learn to use them now while it still feels exciting. Gotta know what drives YOU, too.
While I purchased services that helped me keep the project on track, and that were worth it from a financial standpoint, I’m also learning a lot about website design and how they operate behind the scenes. So I’m skilling up even after purchasing the service. And I'll have a much more functional website at the end of this process.
Another note: the Internet is your friend. Usually, another writer has tackled whatever is currenlty bogging you down (in business, and creatively). Do a Google search for the problem, search YouTube for videos...don’t take anyone’s word as gold, but look into it with the resources you currently possess (which are VAST!) and you’ll be surprised what you pick up along the way.

I'll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!


"Own Your Writing Career: Buy Services AND Build Skills" copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Own Your Writing Career: To Stretch Thy Wings, Thou Must Try New Things

*Grin*
This should be obvious to anyone trying to build a writing career. To build implies that you are making something new, that has not been made before. You are stretching yourself. To be successful, you must constantly stretch out of the zone you’re comfortable in and push yourself to try new things.

There are more examples of this than I can possibly mention. But here goes.
Maybe you’ve always outlined stories, hunting down and organizing every detail before setting the pen to the page. Maybe by now it feels like drudgery to reach the point where you can WRITE. Let me tell you, if any part of this journey you’re taking on for the joy feels like drudgery, you’re doing it wrong. Or at least, you need to try something new. Set aside the outline and just start writing. Or, if you can’t do it with the project you’re now over-attached to, daydream for a day and then attack a whole new story. Do it fast, in a glorious rush. Whatever you’ve done before, try the opposite.
What do you have to lose?
Or suppose you already have books for sale, but only on Amazon, because you’re worried that managing all of the sites will be too much. At this point, I encourage you to think over everything you’ve learned and become comfortable with so far. You climbed a mountain reaching the point where you could publish fiction. Do you really believe you’ll be stumped by retailer sites that want you to sell more books? Take it on. You can do this.
Again what do you have to lose?
Maybe you’ve never networked with other writers, because the idea of calling yourself a writer in public freaks you out to the marrow of your bones (I felt that way, once upon a time). Don’t cave to fear. You will miss out on so much! Every other writer on the planet has dealt with fear. If you know their names, it’s because they didn’t let that stop them. I don’t know many uncool writers, by the way. Most are quite friendly, and encouraging of writers newer to the craft. The best writers know that they, too, still have plenty to learn, and they continue to learn all of the time. That takes networking, so stretch out of the comfort zone and 1) Join a writer discussion group on any number of social media outlets; 2) Join a goal-setting writers group, like Round of Words in 80 Days (I met some of my best writer friends through that group!); and 3) network in person at writers events. Many major cities have writers organizations, and they can be a great way to get to know what’s going on writer-wise in your town.
You have nothing to lose, except that fear I mentioned.
All of the innovations we see in the book market today were once someone’s dreams. When they tried something new, we all benefited. When you try something new, you might stumble on the next great thing. At the very least, you’ll have some fun and stop taking everything so seriously. Is that why you’re here, to stress and moan over how hard it is to learn?
No. You’re here because you’re a natural at learning. Because you love it.
If you’re anything like me, part of why you’re interested in a writing career is the ability to always be charting new territory. So do it. Chart your way into the future -- YOUR WAY.
Be the creator you’re meant to be. Your writing career will be one of a kind. I can’t wait to see what you make of it.
I'll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

"Own Your Writing Career: To Stretch Thy Wings, Thou Must Try New Things" copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Own Your Writing Career: Eyes on the Prize -- What Is the Prize, for You?

As you progress as a writer, you’ll notice the payoffs that are considered important in popular culture for writers. Of course you’ll notice them! You’re one of those pop culture, conventional wisdom suckers, too! (We all are until we investigate further. That’s why it’s called conventional wisdom.)

What are these culturally promoted payoffs of being a writer? Bestseller status! Oh, how we crave it! (Erm...not really.) An agent to book things for you, especially book signings where people are lined up out the door to see little ol’ you! (Uh...REALLY NOT.) And money. Loads of dollarz.

Anyone who makes it beyond their first book is not doing this for any of those reasons. Well...if they’ve been huge successes for decades they may NOW be doing this for those reasons, but these payoffs simply don’t exist for the beginning writer, unless lightning strikes.

So, what are the payoffs that make writing worth it for you NOW?

Why are you doing this crazy-making thing, anyway? Hehe! The BIG QUESTIONS.

Is it the joy of reaching your daily writing target and moving your story forward?

Is it the satisfaction fo getting there even on days when you thought you couldn’t?

Is it that feeling when you write THE END?

Is it dreaming of new worlds, of places only you can make?

Is it the making of those dreams, into something others can finally consume and be consumed by?

Is it that Amazon author page that is now looking so tidy and POPULATED?

Is it the wonder at how far you’ve come -- and the joy of having done what so few have?

Spend a little time thinking about what it is that drives you to make this your life. Consider your payoffs, and make sure you’re taking the time to celebrate your accomplishments, even as you strive to keep learning and growing as a writer.

Keep your eyes on the prize. But not the prize that our media-saturated culture presses on you. Keep your eyes on YOUR PRIZE.
I'll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

"Own Your Writing Career: Eyes on the Prize -- What is the Prize, for You?" copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson

Water Rites Is Available Now!

Water Rites, a YA contemporary fantasy that explores the powers of the depths, is available for purchase where ebooks are sold! 
Water Rites***Release Date March 9, 2015 Amazon U.S. Kobo Barnes and Noble iTunes

In the centuries old struggle for territory between selkies and finfolk, Lorelei Dorian is something new.
Secrets, once uncovered, can change everything. And they will for Lorelei Dorian. She thinks she’s a normal girl, with a talent for swimming and an unparalleled adoration for math. When a new friend confronts her with her true nature, her world will never be the same. Instead, a whole new world awaits her. Can the selkies and the finfolk share the sea – and Lorelei – or will they tear her to pieces as one more pawn in the long game hidden under the waves?

Own Your Writing Career: Staying Positive, Even When It Hurts

No matter what I say, if you’ve yet to publish a book you will learn more from doing it than I can ever tell you. More about your fears, the things that hold you back, and how to overcome them. I continue to learn about mine, and even a decade into serious pursuit of fiction writing I’m finding new fears as I progress.

Fear hurts. It’s probably the thing that hurts most in the writer gig. There’s also the “someone said something mean” kind of hurt for writers, but the reason it hurts is tied to fear.
When that time comes, I shall be here in your corner. Solidary among all writerkind!
What you’ll find is that fear comes in all sorts of nasty shapes and sizes. Some of your fears don’t seem like fears at all, they seem like planning, like preparing...until you spend years at that and are no further along developing your craft or your career.
Once you finish a book, there are new wounds waiting to be opened -- new fears that will assert themselves and force you to find a workaround. But...that’s the deal. With a creative career, there’s no avoiding fear. Tackling that which hurts, which causes the rawest emotion, is how you find your voice, where you create your best work.
If you feel like getting upset over the “performance” of your first books, whether readers like them, whether they sell (if/when you publish them), whether people review them...maybe indulge it for like a minute and a half with your first book. But I will tell you I have seen writers lose their minds with what comes after the publishing. Namely, crickets.
The crickets hurt. Writers are often tapped into their emotions, which is rather important for adding depth to story, but can be a damn nuisance when trying to parce out what’s a normal reaction to just having reached one of your life dreams. The post-first-book stretch is something non-writers can’t quite get. You have this *thing* out there, and it contains a piece of your heart and soul...and even your spouse is tired of hearing about it.
However, take the crickets as a blessing and stay positive about your potential. Not the potential of that first book. YOUR potential.
In the long term, spending all of your time worrying about the book you *wrote* instead of worrying about the book you are *writing* is a disaster. Remember the long game? Remember how Rome wasn’t built in a day, and only a village of Amish can raise a barn that fast?
Keep right on doing your thing, even when something from outside your writing zone and thus outside of your control slaps you upside the head with mean. A blogger didn’t like your book, and has posted a two-star review. A former friend is doing nothing but spamming you about her Etsy company, but can’t be bothered to read your books or lend you support in any way. Your sister snarks over you missing a family gathering because you have a book to write/finish/edit/publish. A friend/relative says he’d love to write a book, if only he could find the time. (I hate that one. Can you tell?)
Refocus. None of that matters. (How you comport yourself on the interwebs matters. It really does, but that’s for another post.)
If you find that something is affecting you negatively -- yes, I mean your writing productivity, but I also mean your spirit -- try to cut it out. Whether it be Facebook, or reading reviews, or active promoting...if it hurts, don’t do it. Especially not in the early years. But do think about why it hurts, and try to move forward bit by bit, working through whatever fears you uncover.
The key to writing well and often is to stay positive and keep at it. Know that you are not alone in experiencing fear -- every writer has to tackle their fears to move forward. But the key to being a writer is to write, a lot. So don't get mired in fear -- keep on producing.
It may help to picture yourself in a fortress in these first years. Maybe it’s a mountainside castle, or a fort on a stormy peninsula, or the last outpost of humans in the universe...whatever floats your boat. Make it your happy place. You make the rules. You decide what breaches those walls. Know that your future is in your control. What you’re building right now is your own.
What you have accomplished starting out as a writer is nothing compared to what you’ll do in years to come. Enjoy the ride! Stay positive!
I'll be back with another Own Your Writing Career post next Thursday. Until then, happy writing!!

"Own Your Writing Career: Staying Positive, Even When It Hurts" copyright © 2015 by J.R. Pearse Nelson