Posts Tagged ‘published’

Mar

Writing Advice

Posted by: Michell in About Publishing, About Writing

For those of you who have read my blog posts in the past, you will probably notice that I rarely, if ever, give writing advice. There are a few reasons for this:

the way I write and what works for me may not work for you (the actual action of writing);
I know what looks right on the page. I have a pretty decent grasp of grammar and language, however, I am NOT a grammatician nor am I a professor of English to speak as an authority on sentence structure;
I am not an expert on the reader’s marketplace. I have a good understanding of what is selling now (easily enough found) and I have some opinions on what might sell down-the-road, but that is all they are. Opinions.

The kind of writing advice that I am qualified to give is more about attitude than about form therefore. I have been writing for a long time and I know several things to be true:

if you don’t put time into your writing, you will NEVER succeed;
if you don’t get good helpful feedback about the quality of your writing, it will likely never (or very slowly) improve;
if you don’t have a thick skin about critical feedback and aren’t willing to learn from it, you will never improve;
if you don’t have tenacity and perseverence, you will probably not get published;
if you are difficult to work with, even if you do get published, you will probably not continue to get published;
you get out of your writing what you put into it; and finally
people (other people) are critical to your success. Those people start with your readers, but should include your family, friends, editor, publisher, agent, peers, reviewers and many, MANY others. Never forget the importance of others.

I don’t think I’ve said anything magical in any of my points. The unfortunate truth is, if you aren’t willing to fail and fail again without giving up, you will probably never succeed. I’ve talked to many authors who have built great careers on the foundation of early failures. Those rejections helped them to grow and made them strong. It showed them what works and what doesn’t.

The other thing to remember is, success is measured differently by each person. You might consider success to be actually writing something at all. Maybe you just want lots of people to read your work and money isn’t important. Or maybe you are like me and want to make a career out of writing.

Whatever your measurement, I hope you find what you are looking for. This is my advice and my wish for your.

Tags: fail, feedback, irreverent muse, michael plested, michel plested, Michell Plested, mike plested, published, success

2 Comments

Jun

Life Happens

Posted by: Michell in About Writing

Every writer, whether you are full-time or part-time, has had life get in the way of producing content. Maybe a family member isn’t well or perhaps there is a disaster. It could be the day job is more challenging than usual.

So what do you do when things interfere with your writing?

Do you wail and moan and gnash your teeth saying things like “Woe is me!” or “If only there were more hours in the day!” or do you smile sadly, refocus your dwindling energies and get as many words down as time allows? Sometimes dwindling energies means no energy so you regroup the next day instead.

Whatever your response, it is critical that you don’t sit back and hope that a big block of time with no interruptions will appear. Those sorts of things do occasionally happen, but they are the exception, not the rule.

I’ve been having “one of those weeks” myself for the past couple weeks. Work has been very stressful and I’ve been trying really hard to get several of my projects done. Then there are the outside things that are demanding my attention too. All of it has meant less creativity than I would like.

But, I’ve forced myself to keep forging ahead. I know very well that if I don’t, the time will pass and the writing won’t get done. I’ll be unhappy with myself and the nasty cycle will continue.

So, I keep at it. If I miss a day, I shrug it off and try again the next day.

I know it doesn’t sound very inspired, but as I have said many times before, perseverance is a key part to becoming a published author. If you cannot work through the hard times, chances are good you won’t work when things are easy either. So what does that leave? The rare times when all the planets are in their proper alignment, the ambient temperature is perfect and your muse speaks clearly about what needs to be written.

That would be perfect, but it would likely mean you would only write for fifteen or twenty minutes a year. Not quite enough to make a living at it.

So, I will laugh in the face of adversity, perhaps more quietly some times than others, and force my muse to bend to my will. It will mean less sleep some nights and perhaps less time being lazy, but it will allow me to continue down the path to becoming a full-time writer.

What tricks do you use? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Tags: author, challenges, life, perseverance, published, stress, writing

6 Comments

Oct

Get Published Episode 16 (Special) – The Release of 7th Son is Nigh, A Chat with JC Hutchins

Posted by: Michell in Get Published (Podcast)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Hello Everyone.

When I heard that JC Hutchins’ 7th Son, Descent was about to hit the bookstores I was excited. When JC put the call out for his street team to give him a leg up I knew I had to help so I invited Hutch to come back to the show to pimp his book. My expectation was that he would spend 20 – 30 minutes to talk about the 7th Son Journey from manuscript to podcast to book. What I got was one of the most enjoyable discussions I’ve had about writing in quite a while.

In the interest of full-disclosure, you will only hear about Hutch’s works in this episode. However, you will also get a sneak peak into JC the man and his views on writing. I know the original discussion was awesome and I enjoyed it just as much the second time when I mixed this episode. I think you will too.

Enjoy.

Get Published, Episode 16 - (Special) – 7th Son is Nigh, A Chat with JC Hutchins

Show Notes

00:00 — Opening – Get Published, Episode 16 (Special) – 7th Son is Nigh, A Chat with JC Hutchins