Remember my last post? How I said, “Write what you know…about yourself.” Put yourself into your stories. Remember that? Well…I stand by it, but…
I’m afraid. Terrified actually. And that fear is keeping me from publication.
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I’m not afraid of the things that psychologists usually list as self-actualization limiters…hard work, success, or even failure. I am a hard worker by nature which helps me to excel at whatever I choose to do (and thus avoid failure). But even though I’ve put in hours, years even, of hard work writing, I haven’t yet succeeded at it…and by writing success I mean publication.
It wasn’t until I started digging deep into the psyche of my heroine that I realized what it is that truly frightens me…opening myself up to others and allowing them to glimpse the inner me. I’m afraid of rejection…not of my books, but of me.
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I wrote and finished my first manuscript a few years ago. While it had structural integrity and contained all the right bits in all the right places, it lacked sparkle, shine—sizzazzle. It was boring.
Late one night (after a few drinks), I was about to put my manuscript in the great Ethernet bin and mark it up as a first-manuscript learning curve when I had a thought. Why not give my heroine my greatest flaw? You know, write what you know…and I know me best so why not put me into a character? I thought it was genius! I was genius! I started re-writing and suddenly my heroine had shine, my story had sparkle, my romance had sizzazzle!
Fantastic, right? No. I’d written a very safe (but boring) first draft. The revised version is anything but safe. This one has me in it! While it is a fantastic manuscript I’m terrified of ‘putting it out there’ for others to judge.
My greatest flaw is that I lack courage. I’m a coward. I hide in my imaginary world and pretend that success isn’t the be all, end all that others make it out to be, but it is…or at least from the shadows of my imagination it is.
So, I’m taking a deep breath, a gulp really, and putting myself into my heroine. That’s fair…I mean I put me into her, so why shouldn’t she reciprocate, right? She’s a fictional character and as such she has a great character arc. Her greatest flaw becomes her greatest attribute and eventually saves the day. Why can’t it be that way in real life? I think it can…for me AND for you.
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If you’re lacking courage try the steps my heroine went through to attain her ‘happy forever after.’
Let’s get started on a new you for the new year. What is it that you fear and what’s one thing you are going to do to get out of your comfort zone and move toward courage?
I love to love my imagination…and where it might take me next.
I love to laugh at my fear…it helps build my courage.
I love to learn how other writers create 'real' characters. Do Kristan Higgins, Julie Garwood, Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning, Kylie Scott, Nikki Logan, Eleni Konstantine...and the hundred or so other writers in my favourites collection write about what (who) they know best--themselves, do you think?
Until Later...happy writing!
D
1 Name it—figure out exactly what it is that you fear.
2 Get smart—find out as much as you can about what it is you fear.
3 Step out of your comfort zone—change old ways of dealing (or not dealing) with your fear. Do something different.
4 Fake it until you make it—pretend courage and eventually you will be courageous.
5 Believe in yourself—you can and will do it.
I love to love my imagination…and where it might take me next.
I love to laugh at my fear…it helps build my courage.
I love to learn how other writers create 'real' characters. Do Kristan Higgins, Julie Garwood, Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning, Kylie Scott, Nikki Logan, Eleni Konstantine...and the hundred or so other writers in my favourites collection write about what (who) they know best--themselves, do you think?
Until Later...happy writing!
D
Good Monday morning to all our Southern hemisphere bloggers. Happy Sunday evening to our Northern neighbours!
ReplyDeleteLet's start the week with a resolution...to be courageous! Say it with me now..."I will be courageous! I will write what I know best. I will breathe life into my characters by adding bits of my own personal reality."
What are you afraid of? What keeping you from writing your masterpiece today?
Really enjoyed this post, Dee. It does take guts to put your work out there, especially stories that are personal, which many of them are. But it's what we sign on for when we decide to become writers. This isn't a business for the faint of heart!
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathryn! It is what we signed on for, isn't it. That can be scary but oh, so exciting too!
DeleteJust wondering Cathryn...have you, as a multi-published author, ever lacked courage? What did you do to move past the fear?
DeleteHi Dee, I so identify with you on this post! As writers we all know we shouldn't, but it's so damn hard not to take rejection personally. How can we not when there's so much of ourselves we've invested in what we're putting out there?
ReplyDeleteYour tips for overcoming fear make a lot of sense. For me, I'm going to move out of my comfort zone of trying to make my ms 'perfect' before I send it off. It's a great excuse not to take that final step (and risk rejection) but it's holding me back. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow! Awesome! Marilyn! Your courage is inspiring! It is hard to stop the 'refining' but you've taken those first few steps and identified that it's actually become an obstacle to publication and you're moving out of your comfort zone!! Awesome! Now BELIEVE in yourself and your writing! You are awesome. Your writing is awesome. And the world will soon reward your awesomeness!
DeleteGreat post Dee. I think as writers we all struggle with this aspect. It's not an easy thing to put your book baby out there. It takes fortitude to look at your work and say this isn't working and set yourself up to re-write. Finding that key element that is missing is hard to do but it looks like you've found it and the courage to apply it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cassandra! So true...our books are our babies-and no one wants to be told their bub is ugly-LOL!
DeleteAs a writer, have you ever lacked courage? What did you do to move past it?
Oh all the time. I felt I did not have the skills necessary to complete a book to publication. For a long time I didn't think I was ready (fear of success) but with the help of contests and the wonderful support of other writers I eventually had to just go for it come what may. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. I knew if I got a rejection it meant the book wasn't for them or maybe it needed a little more work. I don't think any story is ever a lost cause.
DeleteYou took a leap of faith and it obviously worked as your first regency romance (The Scandalous Wager) was released earlier this month! I love that you put yourself and your manuscript out there by entering contests--a perfectly courageous move! With The Scandalous Wager, did you put yourself inside the characters or did they put themselves inside you?
DeleteFor this book they very much came to me. Lisbeth was a woman on the edge and I had to really make sure she didn't go over the line. I really felt for her and her plight. I think it was important to me to make sure she got her HEA. At first she seems like she has it all under control but it doesn't take long to see beneath the facade she has been hiding behind. Having said that I know people who are like this - always seeming strong and trying to do it all on their own, so maybe she didn't come from me (I show my emotions easily) but from people I know and taking their flaws and characteristics and using them to make a strong character who can overcome despite the mountain in their way.
DeleteWow! You saw heroic characteristics in others and applied them to your characters, but to do this you had to ingest the emotions and feelings--you had to feel them yourself--and then write them...and that too takes courage!
DeleteI love this post, Dee. Yes, rejection hurts. You don't have to think too far to feel as though everyone will laugh at you and/or your work if you put it out there especially if it is different. I've made no secret of the fact that fear (of just about everything) often holds me back. My own theory of success is that it is dependent on whether you're willing to do the right things to get to success--however you want to define that. In our case, it is publication. Read, write, reflect, submit. Read, write, reflect, submit. Read, write, reflect, submit. It's a simple formula, but it's really hard to do.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, it's hard to do! Otherwise we'd have more published authors, yes?!
DeleteI love that you're feeling the fear and doing it anyway! That's true courage!
Great post, Dee. Don't let fear steal your dreams. I did once and gave up writing for ages, which was just crazy. So take heart and as they say in Galaxy Quest - Never give up, never surrender. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Nicole! I, for one, am grateful that you came back from the abyss of fear and started writing again, otherwise we wouldn't have your awesome stories to read like Black is the Colour and Seizing Heaven...and soooooo many Moore!!!
DeleteI will definitely take your advice and not let fear steal my dreams!
"Never give up, never surrender!"
Great post, Dee. I agree. And as an avid reader, I think the best books I've read have been ones where the characters aren't perfect super-heroes-or-heroines, but have a flaw that they have to overcome. Makes for *huge* reader empathy!
ReplyDeleteGood point Malvina! Empathy is key--in reading, writing, and in life! Often, we are persecuted for our flaws and learn to hide them, but in writing or in reading we learn that we're not alone--others possess similar flaws or completely different flaws that have similar consequences. Sometimes this shows us that not all the world is judgemental...that there are those who understand and what's more that there are those who accept us just the way we are, flaws and all. And this can give us the courage we need to face the world and not be afraid.
DeleteTerrific post, Dee. I totally identify with the fear factor. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there but we have to do it if we want our dreams to be reality. And I have to work at courage. It's a trust thing. Trusting in myself and my writing. That's a big hurdle I constantly strive to overcome. Your tips will help immensely.
ReplyDeleteThank you Enisa! You hit the nail on the head! Courage IS a trust thing...trust in the world around you AND trust in yourself and your ability to cope with whatever that world throws your way!
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