We’ve all had moments where things didn’t go quite as planned. We’ve all had times when it seems like the world is plotting against us. Responding positively to these challenges is critically important and often extremely hard to do.

Case in point, I interviewed JC Hutchins for ‘Get Published’. I must confess that I was really looking forward to talking with JC. We connected via Skype and started talking. Five minutes into the conversation, JC dropped off. I called him back and we picked up where we had left off.

About 25 minutes into the interview, increasing amounts of distortion crept into JC’s side of the talk. I should have halted the session, reconnected and proceeded. Unfortunately, I thought maybe the problem was with my system and I hoped (fingers crossed) that it would clear up when I started mixing.

Alas, I could not clear up the distortion and unfortunately JC was too busy to rerecord the second half of the interview. It would have been so easy to throw the entire interview into the garbage and move on. I didn’t do that; JC gave me an hour of his time and had many interesting and useful things to say. What did I do?

I split the interview in half. The first half became episode 10a. The second, largely unintelligible half is destined to become episode 10b. I’ve now completely listened to it (several times, in fact) and transcribed it to the best of my ability. I recorded JC’s side of the conversation and it will be released later this week.

Is it a perfect solution? Hardly, but this way, my listeners will still hear what JC had to say even if it isn’t in his voice. Kludgey, yes, but better than throwing it away.

The same is true of submitting stories to agents and publishers. You send it out and it gets rejected. Time to quit? Not on your life.

Send it out again, and then again. Set yourself a limit to the number of rejections (but be realistic; 1 isn’t a big enough number and neither is 10). If you hit your number, try something different. Maybe hire an editor to work with you to fix it up. Or perhaps join a critique group. Your story may be fine and just need some polish. Or maybe it IS bad and you need to use it as an apprentice piece and move on to the next story.

The point is, you don’t tell yourself you suck and quit. The difference between many a failed author and a published one is perseverance. Learn from your setbacks/mistakes and move forward. I know for certain I will do other interviews. I also know that if distortion starts to creep in, I will stop the session and reconnect. In the end, the interviewee will appreciate that I am trying to present them in the most positive way possible and I won’t have to find a way to make it work.

The same holds true of my writing. Let the rejections come in. There are other ways to get the work out and one day it will be published. Count on it.

Personal Update

One of my first readers did a once through on my fantasy novel and gave me some great feedback. I will be sending it off to my publisher in the next week.

Also… ‘Get Published’ is a Parsec Award finalist (I may have mentioned this before but it bears repeating). Wish me luck.

Tags: Get Published, jc hutchins, Michell Plested, parsec award, perseverance, podcast, writing

It has been a tumultuous week for me. I had the priviledge of interviewing J.C. Hutchins for ‘Get Published’ (GOOD) only to discover that half of the audio is incomprehensible and J.C. is booked solid for the next while (BAD). I am going to try and transcribe the dialogue and re-record it myself, but honestly, how good will a conversation between the same voice be? I’m planning to adjust the voice on J.C.’s side of the conversation just to actually make it sound like a conversation, but still.

Then my wife badly injures her hand (VERY BAD) and we spend the next 6+ hours in emergency. Now, just to be clear, I don’t get upset by that sort of thing easily… at least not when I do it to myself. My family, on the other hand, is a different story. When one of them gets hurt I tend to get very distraught. Fortunately, the hand will heal and should be good as new in a few weeks/months (VERY GOOD).

Yesterday, I received an email from an old boss telling me that a former colleague and friend had been killed in a car accident. I will dedicate a post to him later; a few lines here would not do him justice. Suffice it to say this is not a good thing. This morning I learned that ‘Get Published’ has been shortlisted for a Parsec Award (GOOD thing, but doesn’t come anywhere near cancelling out the previous BAD thing).

OK, so 200+ words in and what’s my point?

Well… I guess I would say… Life Happens (feel free to substitute the word life with one less savoury if you like).

But what is the right response when you get innundated with Life occurances? I don’t think there is one single right answer to that question. For some, it might mean sitting back and reflecting on things or celebrating or simply remembering. For others, it may mean putting all your thoughts down on paper while they are still fresh and raw. I think it depends on the person and the events themselves.

I did a little of all those things depending on which of the events I mentioned.

They say you should write what you know. This week I have known horror, relief, overwhelming sadness and guilt, disbelief, remorse, loss and even a little happiness. It has been a week that I will likely remember always with mixed emotions and it has been a week that will live on in my writing.

Am I glad for it? No! I would definitely pass up the events of this week if it meant my friend were still with us and my wife had never been hurt. That choice is not mine to make. All I can do is take what has happened and move forward.

They say that from great pain comes great art. Today I think I know what they were talking about.

Tags: Get Published, irreverent muse, jc hutchins, Michell Plested