Thankful Thursdays: Career

I've decided to start a regular feature on the blog called Thankful Thursdays. I keep reading over and over again about how the best way to feel happy and fulfilled in your life is to be thankful for the things you have so that's what we're doing. Every week will have a theme and today's is career.

This is a tricky one for me because I can easily let the voice in my head say, "What career? You're not published! What can you be thankful for?"

But being thankful is not about wanting, it's about appreciating, and sometimes you need to ignore that initial voice and dig deeper.

This is what I found I have to be thankful for in my career as a writer:

1) I am thankful for the courage to query that I've recently found. Yay, courage! Why were you hiding?

2) I am thankful for starting this blog and having the inspiration to share my thoughts with others!

3) I am thankful for all the new techniques I'm learning on how to edit a novel! And for sticking with it!

4) I am thankful to myself for staying true to my purpose, and continuing to write no matter what.

5) I am thankful for all of the wonderful agents, editors, librarians, illustrators and all people connected to writing, publishing, and helping books to reach readers and enrich people's lives.

6) I am thankful for libraries! (I think this one is self-explanatory.) And for the wonderful librarian who was at my school from Gr.6-8. She took the time to invite writers to our school and to take us on field trips to meet writers, and she generally took me and my best friend under her wing. Thank you. You changed my life.


Well, it appears that I found some stuff after all : )

What are you thankful for today?

Let Your Writing Be Another Person

Raise your hand if this is what your relationship with your writing looks like:

You beg, beg, beg your writing to get published.

You tell your writing, "You're great!" one second and the next, "You're getting burned this afternoon!"

"I don't know why I bother with you, there's so many other things I could be doing!"

"I'm naturally talented. Why aren't you turning out the way I had it in my head??"

"I don't have time for you today, but let's pretend I did."


Seriously. Think about it. If you were treated like that, would you stay in that relationship? Why should your writing? And if it does stick around, how is it supposed to flourish under those conditions?


Treat it like any relationship you would have with a person.

Give it the time and the patience to grow and develop into your initial vision.

Be patient.

Be kind.

Be gentle.

But mostly, just be there. Show up and be supportive.

That's all you need and that's all your writing needs.

It Shouldn't Hurt

"If querying hurts, you're doing it wrong."

--Me

Just like exercise or anything else, it shouldn't hurt.

If it does, you need to change the way you're thinking about it.

Don't think of it as finding an agent for yourself, but for this novel right here. The question should never be are you good enough. Take the pressure off yourself. The question isn't even if the book is good enough. In fact, there are several questions:

Is the book written well for the audience it's trying to reach?

AND

Is it marketable?

AND

Is there an agent interested in representing it?

You already are doing exactly what you need to be doing.

Keep writing! I believe in you!