So this weekend as I was forced to rest, I caught up on
some homework and reading of a few blogs I follow. It was great!
As I caught up on the tips and tricks of authors who have
made it to where I’m trying to go, I was both excited and encouraged when I
read “Sameness does not sell. Original work sells and builds fans and readers.”
on www.deanwesleysmith.com. It was so
simple, yet very impacting.
That was just the ember I needed to get out of the “-but
this has never been done…” slump that I have been stuck in. In fact that coupled with some other tips from
Dean that I yielded from is book Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing,
have really encouraged me to fight off the obstacles that have been holding up
my writing progress.
It’s funny, when I first starting trying to get my work
published, I was uncertain, and felt unequipped to go it alone (traditionally or the indi
route) so I read, took classes, did
workshops searched out mentors…the works.
But then I got to a point where I was discarding a lot of the
information I was digging up and paying for; not because it wasn’t good
information, but because it was good or right for me. And guess what…the world didn’t collapse, my
stories aren’t perfect (but what story is), and I’m beginning to love writing
again.
So the best formula for me is just that…the best formula for
me. It is not a set in “stone process”
that I MUST follow in order to be creative or get my vision out to people who may
enjoy it. And my process is not one that
I hold as a standard and tell new writers they must follow if they really want
to “make it". In fact it is kind of an
organized chaos that seemed to work, right up until the time I decided that it shouldn’t
because someone else said it shouldn’t or wouldn’t work.
So in a semi- soapbox-hypocrite moment, my advice to every
writer, dreamer or individual who is fighting the urge to think outside of the
box is simple:
Regardless of what your "it" is, grant yourself the freedom to do it however you
envision it! ~TWC