Love That Silver Lining!

Around here, we’re knee-deep in the summer holidays. After four weeks of the kids being underfoot every day, tearing around, needing this, that and the other thing, I find myself unable to gather a coherent thought. I’ve made about four attempts on this post already and scrapped every single one.

 

However, one thing I do know, and that is my disappointment over not achieving my goal of publication last year. See how convoluted that thought was? Thank you, holidays. Not.  

After working on this book since 2005, last year I set the goal to publish it...and that didn’t happen. What does it take to put a book out? Chuck Wendig says it ‘takes a rather epic set of genitals’. I think mine have shrivelled. I confess I really did go through a lot of ‘down’ emotions about failing to cross the finish line, again. So then I got to feel silly about that too.

Life is amazing. Even our most spectacular fails have that silver lining my grandmother would talk about. At the end of every visit to gran, as I walked towards the door, she would never fail to say some parting phrase of wisdom or of love. Gran would say, "You look for the silver lining, it'll always be there." Or "Reach for that star and you will get there." 

The great thing that came out of last year’s ‘disappointment’ was that a new year, a new critique group, a fresh start has brought about a major revelation for me with this book. Simply put, the story in its previous form wasn’t ready. And that’s been the truly great, transformational thing about working on a project this long too, is that it has become my university. As I have torn down and built up this story over and over, I’ve seen it twist into new shapes and forms, and I’ve learnt more as the book has become more of itself.

 

James Scott Bell says you must find beta readers who are willing to ‘hold your feet to the fire’, and he’s so right. I've been really lucky with my beta readers. I didn’t truly start to grow with my fiction until I began to work with other writers through the critique process.

Critique group this year gave me a great wakeup call - I wasn’t aware enough of my market. I wasn’t writing to the genre, I had some adult words, concepts and techniques that weren’t suited to the ‘tween 9-13 year old market – in effect I was writing over their heads. My critique buddy suggested the cure: read in the genre, a book a week.

I started reading a ‘tween book that same day and immediately I could see the difference. I went back and gave the structure of the book an overhaul. The rewrite got underway this week, and it’s a thrill, a pure thrill to see my character’s adventure become what it should be, directed to the kids.

 

Apparently Chuck Wendig said, ‘the best work is rarely work that floods the market’. Boy, I hope so! This baby of mine has been a long time coming.

 

 

I sent the first three chapters to critique this week. The response came back. OMG! So much better! And there were 'only a few notes on punctuation.' J

 

Victory is sweet :-) You've got to learn to savor it in this business, and grab it wherever it comes.

 

Now if I can just get through the rest of the holidays....

 

 

Talk to you later,

Yvette K. Carol

www.yvettecarol.com

 

Be big enough to create a first draft, and small enough to tear that draft to pieces, to write a second draft, then a fourth, then an eleven-hundred-and-fifty-sixth if that’s what it jolly well takes. ~ Chuck Wendig

Oscar Wilde said: "Books are never finished, they are merely abandoned."

What do you really need?

 

This post was written to coincide with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group where we share our insecurities on the first Wednesday of the month. In time for the IWSG post day, I’ve been contemplating the fragility and uncertainty of life. Last week a friend died. I’m attending the funeral along with family and friends tomorrow. Tonight, as I try to gather my thoughts for a blog post, I find myself quite naturally thinking about the matter of life and death.

 

Some of my family is Maori, and today, we discussed the differences in the cultural ways of sending off loved ones to the other side. The Maori spend a week talking about the deceased and also spending time with the body. My nephew said, ‘that’s how you sometimes get to know the person really well, because you hear stories you’ve never heard before.’ And my niece said, ‘We, Maori, walk with death every day.’

 

This reminded me of my spiritual mentor, Erin Lees, telling us one time ‘that the Ngwhals say death is right over your shoulder, that’s how close it is. There is no time to waste. There is no guarantee. Therefore, one of the questions to contemplate, is what do you really need?’

I started to wonder... what do I really need?

The writer, Leo Buscaglia wrote, ‘Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey into the afterlife. The first question was, "Did you bring joy?" The second was, "Did you find joy?"’

This idea really fascinated me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I find joy in my writing, and I (hopefully) bring joy through my writing as well.

 

Which touches on a conversation we held on Facebook last week, where a friend wrote: ‘I once read a study that January 3rd is the most depressing day of the year because the holidays are over and now there's nothing but 3 months of winter to get through.’

I responded: ‘That's what I love about writing fiction. We get to create happiness where there was none!’

 

 

And that was where the self-doubt crept in.... Why did I say that? I haven’t published a book yet. For one reason or another, I’ve managed to get to 50 years old without putting a single fictional story into print. My goal to get a book published has been transferred from one intention list to the next on Jan 31^st for years upon years in a row.

 

The Japanese say perseverance is a form of genius...but perseverance without ever reaching the end zone starts to feel like a form of self-delusion. I feel life is going by so fast - I need to hustle to get onto the ‘bringing joy’ part that is so important. How does one reconcile one's intention with reality? Any thoughts or ideas you have on this subject and those touched on above would be welcome!!

 

 

 

Talk to you later,

 

Yvette K. Carol

 

 

We have to be honest about what makes us tick, what makes us different; and then we have to have the courage to share it with others. ~  C. S. Plocher