An Important Truth to Remember

Here's an important truth for every writer to keep in mind. Are
you ready for it? Here it is: Much of the world is outside of your
control.  I know pretty obvious? Yet when your chaotic world falls apart
(and everyone has things which happen), it is important to remember that you
can't control everything. In fact, some days you feel like you can't control
anything.



Let me give you a couple of examples from my life in publishing.
I recently promoted through my email list and social media, one of my long-term
friends. I was using an affiliate link and going to earn money (eventually) from
my promotion activities. Then the friend's computer crashed and the event is now
going to be rescheduled. The potential earnings and promotion are now delayed
but completely outside of anything I could have controlled or
foreseen.



Here's another one. Recently I was looking forward to traveling
to a live event. The event looked to have a great crowd and the people would be
good potential authors for my work with Morgan James
Publishing. Then the organizer got laryngitis and cancelled the event. She
told me it was her first time to have to cancel an event in the 20 or so she had
held before. It will be rescheduled in the spring but again the details were
outside of my control.



When you have these types of things happen to your writing life,
here's several things to do:



1. Don't let it make you depressed or
ineffective. Yes the emotions are real and play into our work but shrug
off what you can't control.




2. Change course and keep going in new
directions. Our writing world has endless possibilities. If you need a
list of possibilities, then download this free chapter from my Jumpstart Your
Publishing Dreams book (no optin).



3. Determine again to control what you can and let the
rest go. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Maybe get outside and
walk around the block. The fresh air will help you clear your head and return
with new enthusiasm.



4. When you went in a new direction (#2), now
dig into your new work. Because you are working on a different
area, hope can increase and you can move forward.



As a writer, there are dozens of directions that you can go.
Your consistent action and moving forward in the chaos is one of the keys from
my experience. Yes there is much in our world that we can't control but we
can take control of our own writing. As you faithfully meet your own
deadlines and writing projects, you will be able to touch and help many people.
If I can help you in this process, let me know. In the meantime, I will be
cheering you forward.



When your writing spins out of control, what steps to you take?
Are they different than the ones I wrote about here? Let me know in the
comments.



Tweetable: 



A prolific writer and editor reminds us of an important truth with some practical action steps. (ClickToTweet)



Feel like your writing life is out of control? Get some fresh ideas to move ahead here. (ClickToTweet)