Don’ts and dos.

Twelve weeks after the first day of the second new year

How about some dos and don’ts this week? It just seems right, you know, to do a recap of sorts, it fits after the last few posts, and some of those of this blog’s first year. When times are busy we tend to rush forward, forget lessons learned that need to be applied tomorrow, too, so it’s worth our moment to have another look at them.

So here they are, the don’ts first:
Don’t worry about what you don’t know. A you progress with the steps toward your first publication you will learn what needs to be done, speak to other authors, and discover what your capabilities are, what you still need to develop, and where you need to be assisted by others. That’s what other authors do, too.
Don’t procrastinate. Seriously, don’t. If you want to publish a book, just do the work from beginning to end, publish and then do it all over again. And again. Don’t stop. You don’t want to get up one morning to find that the last book you’ve written was three years ago.
Don’t follow illusions. Publishing books and making a name for yourself as a serious writer take work. If you think you’re going to write one book and it will sell like mad and you’ll become rich and famous, then find something else to do because you don’t belong here. In fact, if you’re only here for the money and fame, if you’ve seen famous writers and all you want is to be like them without doing the work, then forget it. Writing starts from love: love of writing, love of books, love of having books you yourself have written read by people who appreciate them. And love requires a whole lot of work.
Don’t look down. Keep your eyes on the mark. If, while you walk the path, you’re too busy looking down at your feet, all you’ll see are your own footsteps trying to find their way between the bumps in the road. Look forward, to the progressing milestones on the way, to the goals you’ve set that should serve as your compass. Keep your eyes on the horizon and focus on what needs to be done to advance. This way, you will never get lost.
Don’t let fear win. Rather than imagining how wrong things can go, breathe in and get busy doing what you’ve set out to do. We are always afraid of what could go wrong, but ultimately either nothing does, and we’ve worried for nothing, or something does, and we get through it. So don’t waste your imagination on what might or might not be bad, and instead work day by day on creating the good.
Don’t give up. Things will go wrong. Things will also go right. The problem is that we tend to remember the bad before we remember the good, and the bad has too much of an emotional impact on us, too often drowning out the positive outlook that should rightfully be there, and that we rely on to guide us forward. And if you give up now, you just might end up missing something great that’s waiting for you just around the corner. It’s that simple.
Don’t look back in regret. Regret is a waste of time, simply because you can’t change the past. Regret will also stop you, stand in your way. And that’s apart from the most important downside of regret: it makes you feel really, really crappy.

And the dos, of course, they’re just as important:
Do take care to learn what needs to be known. Learning at the beginning will save you a lot of time in later books, will increase the quality of your work, will increase your confidence, and will free your mind to think for itself, once what you’ve learned is applied enough times and becomes second nature. Taking the time to learn now is an investment for the future.
Do use the assistance of other professionals where needed, such as an editor and a cover designer, and do treat them with respect. In fact, treat everyone you encounter in your work with respect, not least of all your readers.
Do remember you’re a business, a startup in fact. Take what you do seriously, remember that you’re building a brand under which you will be selling products that will have customers who will expect quality. And while you’re at it, do remember that not everyone around you will understand the choice you’ve made, to become a writer. So listen, be patient, but know how to stand your ground and stick to what you know is right for you.
Do be flexible. With every step you take and with every decision you make, you will learn a lot about the writing world and about yourself, and gain valuable experience. And so you need to be prepared to change your mind, your plans, and the way you do things. That’s the way to evolving, both you and your writing. That horizon you’re looking to? It’s so much more than you think. So don’t limit yourself, put rigidity aside.
Do persist. You’re doing this because you love it, and because you think you’re good at it. So don’t let obstacles stop you. Take a step, then another, and then another, go through walls, get up if you fall. Just as long as you keep moving in the right direction: toward fulfilling your goals.
Do take a moment of rest now and then. That’s so important. Your mind is going to be busy for a long time to come, it will need a bit of rest now and then. You will need a bit of rest now and then. So do something relaxing, however small. Do a lighter task you enjoy. Or, even better: go have an ice cream milkshake. Talk to a friend. Spend a moment with a family member—that’s important, being busy tends to take precious time away from those we love.
Do remember why you’re doing this. There’s a reason you started writing, and there’s a reason you chose to undertake the work required to publish your books. It’s easy to lose sight of your goals when you’re entangled in the endless tasks needed to achieve them, and challenges encountered tend to discourage if you haven’t yet tasted success. So do use your imagination now and then to take you to what’s beyond the work: the dream.
Do look back to learn from everything that you did right—and from everything that you did wrong. This will help you avert some downfalls down the path, and enhance your strengths, not to mention add new ones. And there is an upside to looking back: it can make you feel really, really proud of your achievements so far, and of the road you’ve already taken. Look at what you did. Look at what you made. Now think of what you can do in the path still ahead.
Well then, no need for a tip here, is there? This post is in its entirety an accumulation of tips, and there will be more in the future, no doubt about that. In the meantime, think about keeping a list of your own, one you will hang on a wall where you work, of the don’ts and dos that are specific to you that you need to remember for your work on your next book, and that reflect your own weaknesses and strength. This will increase the efficiency of your work and serve as a constant reminder that you are learning, you are moving forward, you are on the right path to become a published author.