Kern Carter's Blog, page 164

My first taste of Rejection.. and why it was great

My first taste of Rejection…and why it was greatPhoto by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

First of all, gratitude to Kern for coming up with such a great idea. It is indeed a wonderful and very thoughtful way to help the writers, both very new and moderately new to not feel odd in such a huge world of already established writers.

I am new to Medium. I would not say I just started writing, but it has been on and off for me. So one day I wrote this random post, and to my surprise, it got curated and I was approached by one of the publications to publish the post with them. You can understand the happiness I was feeling in that moment. I mean for someone who has just had her friends praising her writing skills, critical approval from external people does feel so important. I felt I had just been awarded a golden star. I danced in my darkroom with no music, midnight. As crazy as it sounds.

So my aspirations got really high, and I wrote one more post, sent it to another publication with the belief that it too would get selected. Maybe I had started thinking really high of myself. Yeah, maybe that was true.

And there came my first rejection note.

“ Sorry, this one just doesn’t click.”

Wow!! It didn’t hurt, but the taste of rejection was awesome too. In two days, such a great leap, two entirely different emotions.

Acceptance feels like a blessing because rejection is on the other side of the swing.

And, optimistic as I am, I just said some inspiring words to myself.

For the first time in my life, I am coming out of my nest, learning to fly and finally pressing that Publish button. Needs courage, doesn’t it? The path might be rough, but the journey is going to be beautiful. And the anxiety in my heart is just proof that there is life in me. So, it is alright. It is alright to be anxious, to be restless, even to face rejection. Because plain is monotonous.

Rejection is what leads you to be better at whatever skill you are getting into. And it is an indication that soon you will meet the new you. Trust me, the feeling of meeting the new you is always bigger than anything else.

Showers of gratitude.

My first taste of Rejection.. and why it was great was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Send me your rejection stories

If you’re a creative, I don’t even have to ask if you’ve been rejected. You’ve heard NO all too many times. Now I want to hear about it.

Send me your rejection stories and let’s inspire other creatives to keep going despite the rejection. Not like you need help remembering the times you’ve been turned down, but here are some possible perspectives:

For writers, being rejected by agents or publishers.Being rejected for a part you auditioned for.Being turned down for guest posts on other publications.Getting rejected on an application — could be school or something else.Being rejected by people you thought would be supportive.

You get the point. We can do this a couple of ways:

Comment on this thread if you’re interested and I’ll add you as a writer to CRY.Write your stories in full and tag me or submit to CRY Mag.Reply to this letter or email me at kern@kerncarter.com and let me know what you’re thinking.

Can’t wait to read what you come up with. We’re not alone in our journeys as creatives and sharing our hardships goes a long way to helping others stay motivated.

Thanks in advance.

CRY

Send me your rejection stories was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Self-publishing is great — sometimes

Publishing your own book is one thing. Getting recognized is another.

Continue reading on C.R.Y »

New trend alert — authors are becoming podcasters

Photo by Malte Wingen

As authors continue to look for ways to monetize, an unexpected ally is emerging. This is more for non-fiction writers than novelists, but authors are turning to podcasts to share their stories.

Some genres work better than others. Mystery, memoir and true crime seem to translate more cleanly, but it’s a trend all authors should be paying attention to.

Interestingly enough, the author turned podcast trend is being driven by the popularity of audiobooks. New research suggests that 50% of Americans over the age of 12 have listened to an audiobook. That’s an insane amount of “readers” and the thinking is many of those readers can be transformed into podcast listeners.

I’ll keep you updated as I learn more about this. You can dive a bit deeper into this topic on Forbes.

CRY

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New trend alert — authors are becoming podcasters was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My writing process — magic doesn’t happen by accident

A sneak peek into how I ignite my creativity.

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Our books are being destroyed and there’s nothing we can do about it

In what’s called a “slow fire,” our books are literally being destroyed. Sometimes in as little as 30 years, a book can become embrittled. This is due to the quality of paper books have been printed on and how that paper quickly acidifies until it becomes so brittle the book disintegrates.

Our answer has been to digitize everything, but that does nothing to save the physical book. And at the current pace of scanning books, it would still take 300 years to catalogue everything with our current technology. That means countless numbers of books will be lost and forgotten.

Yeah, this is a problem. Read more about it on Lithub.

CRY

Our books are being destroyed and there’s nothing we can do about it was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Plan your creativity

You can wait for a spark or you can make it happen

Photo by Andy Watkins on Unsplash

You ever sit down on the toilet seat and suddenly get struck with a brilliant idea? Or find yourself rushing home from a walk around your neighbourhood because you don’t want to forget the title of your next blog post.

It seems that blasts of creativity hit at the oddest of moments. And that leaves some people to believe that producing some kind of mind-blowing novel or design or photography series is a matter waiting for the right idea to show itself.

Maybe…

But true creativity, the creativity that will touch your audience’s soul, doesn’t have to be a matter of chance. And that kind of creativity doesn’t happen in the time it takes you to flush the toilet.

Even further, I think it’s possible to intentionally create an environment where you can sustain inspiration, enlightenment, and motivate yourself to consistently generate and execute ideas at a high level.

All I’m here to say is that creativity doesn’t have to seem so fleeting. I really do believe there are ways to spark it, control it, and sustain your heightened level of sensitivity.

Get out into the world

For me, finding the ‘spark’ to write anything is a process. First I need a general idea of what I want to write about. And to generate any idea, I need to be away from my laptop and out into the world.

So I intentionally put myself in situations where I’m relaxed and not really thinking about anything. This could be taking a drive or going for a walk, being out at an exhibit or concert, or colouring images from my colouring book.

My goal is to calm my mind enough so it can be free to wander. Or be completely engaged in another stimulating activity. I don’t want to sit in front of my laptop and feel pressure to come up with a topic. That doesn’t work for me. And even after I get my idea, I still don’t run straight to my laptop.

Plot your idea

The next step of my process is plotting out the article or story in my mind. I literally have to know what points I’m going to talk about before I sit down and write it out. Everything has to flow in my mind, start to finish.

By the time I get to my laptop for the next phase, it’s a matter of filling in the words that I’ve imagined and making sure everything sounds the way I need it to. Then I step back for a few hours or maybe a full day, then head back to my laptop to bring the piece to life through editing.

This process goes for anything, from my novels to something more simple like this article. In either case, my creative process from ideation to editing is completely deliberate. No waiting for streams of genius here. I make genius happen.

And of course I’m using that genius term very loosely. I wouldn’t say this article is genius. It’s just me expressing myself the best way I know how. The way I’m most passionate about. The way I know I can best touch people.

Related: Read “Write through your tears”

Some Creatives Need Help

There are those who are just idea people. Big picture people. Visionaries you can say. They have these seemingly sporadic sparks of genius, but then rely on others to help actually produce the creation they have in their mind.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. As creatives we have to know our limitations. Some ideas take more than we can produce on our own. And the only way we can best take our vision from idea to reality is to use others.

When I finished writing my second novel (not yet published), I knew I wanted a cover image that would speak to the core of my message. But I couldn’t draw or design a thing if you put a gun to my head.

So I put the idea out to a bunch of creative teenagers and the result was the most amazing, spot-on book cover ever created (no exaggeration here). They completed my vision. And soon I’ll be able to share that vision with the entire world.

My point is creativity is not just an idea. There’s an entire process creatives need to endure before someone looks at something or reads something and says, “oh wow, you are so creative.” I really believe that the follow-through, the execution is what separates the greats from the ones who we never hear about.

CRY

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Have you read my novel BEAUTY SCARS? Available now for only .99 cents on for the ebook and $9.99 for the paperback.

Plan your creativity was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Do you know about the #DVpit for writers?

It’s a Twitter pitching contest where you can use that hashtag to pitch the basics of your manuscript. The unique thing about #DVpits is that it is specifically for diverse writers. Agents interact with that hashtag and if something piques there interest, they might choose to engage you further.

Just another way authors can be found by agents and publishers and realize their goals of being published.

CRY

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Have you read the novel BEAUTY SCARS by Kern Carter? Ebook is available now for .99 cents, paperback for $9.99.

Do you know about the #DVpit for writers? was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Freelance writers: this is the minimum you should be charging

Let’s make sure we writers are getting paid what we should.

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A non-profit org is commissioning diverse writers and illustrators

Image from nabu.org

Not-for-profit organization NABU is trying to impact the lives of children all over the world. They currently use children’s books written in the mother tongue of a region as a means to inspire and empower children.

To accomplish this, they take submissions from writers and illustrators to create these books. They add these books to a free app that allows kids to read stories in their own language. NABU says its goal is to “eradicate illiteracy.”

You can get involved with NABU by either signing up to become a creator or by simply donating.

CRY

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A non-profit org is commissioning diverse writers and illustrators was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.