Sunday Story - writing lessons

Don't doubt - you can make it!

In this world of publishing, so much happens behind closed doors and with 'secrecy'. You have to wait until contracts are signed, before announcing new books. Sometimes you have to work on new stories in a shroud on secrecy. You get lost in your world of creating and waiting, creating and waiting. Sometimes you're floundering and you forget the thrill of readers reading and relating to your stories.

This week the writing world has given me some lessons. Lessons I will no doubt forget, but if I write them here, I have a better chance of finding them next time I forget!

I got royalty statements this week, which shows how many books you've sold, and if you're lucky, you may get paid. My lesson: people do buy my books. I never know. My sales aren't great so I don't really change Amazon rank, and they aren't recorded on Novel Rank any more because they're low. So it's a mystery. Books are there but who knows what happens behind the screen. But now I do! Even after 18 months, my short story A Real Online Fantasy is selling copies, which means people are reading what I write. And that is such a thrill.

This week, I was asked to do some collaboration. This is exciting and terrifying all at once. I was stoked to be asked, but scared about pulling my weight. My lesson: Make friends, you never know when you can help each other. I'm not too bad at collecting people, even though I'm a bit of a hermit. I don't collect lots of life-long bosom-buddy friends, but I have lots of friendly acquaintances/friends. I'm the person who sends Christmas cards and wishes to a heap of people and some of them, that's our only contact all year. But I like knowing that they came into my life for a reason, and I like to acknowledge that they're still a big part of me. It may seem corny, but I appreciate people who've done something for me.

I've also learned to trust my writing process. When things haven't gone so well, I've tried other things but now I've found a way that works for me, and I'm beginning to trust it. This week my trust got tested, but I stuck with it and was rewarded. So, My Lesson: trust my writing process.

It's been a bit of a huge week, and dealt me up one more writing lesson - My Lesson: Don't doubt yourself. I've been working on something for over 5 years. I didn't follow the normal path (of course, it's me!) and I've had no success because of this. But persistence, good encouraging friends, and much work, has finally meant that someone connected with my story. I was at a real decision point with this and if I didn't have positive feedback, I thought I'd have to succumb and change what I wanted to do (conform). But now I don't. And I'm keen to see how my idea works (or doesn't). But in the world of secrecy, I can't tell you more :)

Does the world ever hit you with a week's worth of writing lessons?