Monday, June 18, 2012

It's What We Do

Hey, hey! I'm at 300 followers! That is effing sweet, guys! Thanks so much! I know it's been rocky around these parts lately, but you guys are awesome for sticking with me. Hitting the "unfollow" button is so easy these days (I would know. Annoy me on twitter? BAM! Unfollowed. Clog up my feed on FB with crap? BAM! Hidden.) So I really appreciate it, guys. Truly do.

As a thanks for putting up my with shit, I'm going to announce a contest here pretty soon, but hang in there. It isn't today!

As far as writing goes, I still have a lot of confidence in the current book on submission with agents right now. ALL of the confidence comes from the crit partners and other awesome people who have read it and believe in it, so I'm still plugging along!

I asked Matthew MacNish for some query help, though, to mix it up and hopefully get a bigger response from agents. I'll announce when I'm up with him so you guys can hop over and gimme a hand if you like.

And the new book, well geez...okay. So last week was a freak-out week (sorry crit girls, but thanks for talking me down!) and I wondered if anyone can identify. So, I have 3 projects I COULD go with next. One may get in on an upcoming trend that's possibly coming around. One is an idea I've wanted to do for a while. And the third is something I should have tried AGES ago because I am all about it.

So, I email them spazzing out about which to do. I wrote a bit on all of them, and all of them have valid arguments for going with that one next instead of the others, but I couldn't figure out which would be best. And every time I tried to sit down with one I got stuck in my own head over "is this the right one?" "what if this is a waste of time and I should have gone with the other but won't know it till it's too late?" "what if I'm writing this one all wrong because I can't wholly focus on it?"

On and on. And it all boiled into one big freak-out with my partners via email. And, thankfully, I have the best girls in my corner a person could ask for. They got me out of my head and made me stop what if'ing my head off, reminding me that there is no way to predict the future. There is on way to predict what an agent would rather have over anything else. And writing isn't about chasing possible trends. It's writing the story you want to write, you need to write.

And that was only one of the three ideas. It's something I've been dying to try, something I've never written before, and something I quite honestly have no idea how to write. But that's the cool thing about the internet: You can learn or find a way to learn anything. And the even cooler thing about being a writer, there is always room to learn more. I'm really really enjoying this education too. It's awesome!

Ah, I love writing. I considered giving up a whole thirty seconds a couple weeks ago before I laughed and told myself to stop being a moron. When you're a writer, there is nothing else you can do. Or at least, that's how I feel about it.

Will let you all know about the upcoming 300 follower contest as well as when my query goes up over on The QQQE with Matthew.

Happy Monday, you fabulous peeps!

18 comments:

  1. Congrats on the 300 followers. That's a big accomplishment. Good luck at QQQE. I did that and got such great useful information.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 300 followers! Way to go! That's 'cuz your blog rocks, ya know. I'll be watching for when you're up at Matthew's blog (cuz I follow him, too).

    I'm so glad you have crit pals to talk you down. Thank goodness for email and chat and all that other webby stuff. Without it, I'd be sitting here in my hole complaining to myself about this writing thing. And hey, having too many story ideas to choose from is better than not having enough. (Not a problem for me so far, but it's one of those things I worry about.)

    Heh, I thought about quitting, too. As if I could ever do that. Feh. It's like an addict telling themselves they could quit if they wanted to. I can't quit this, but sometimes I like to think I could if I really wanted to. ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations on three hundred followers!
    Crap, I have freak outs because I have no ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy happy Monday, and congrats on 300 followers! Wow, three projects you could go with - that's fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yay! So glad you decided to go with writing what you're excited about! I have no idea how to predict trends, so I always say write what you love. And congrats on 300 followers! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Matt is awesome with queries. Yours will doubly shine once he's finished with it.

    My CP and a few beta readers had to talk me off the ledge this weekend after I received some conflict feedback on my wip. When I thought of cutting a subplot, they protested, loudly. I'm glad I came to my senses and listened to them. They helped me figure out a way to solve the problem.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 300 is a memorable number. Wasn't it 300 Spartans who held off the Persians? So you could think of your 300 followers as a protective wall against negativity.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Make sure you spread that word when you're up on Matt's site. I'll totally stop by. It's a great gig Matt has going on. Major CONGRATS!! on 300 followers. ;D

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have two projects that I keep going back and forth on as well. One is done and just needs editing (well, okay major editing) and the other is just an idea percolating in my head. Luckily I like both of them. I think it's better to write what you love, because you have to work with that story for a long time.

    Looking forward to reading your query.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats Colene, on 300 followers. Looking forward to your query.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Totally awesomesauce on 300 followers, dude! So glad we could be there to help :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Congrats on 300!

    I was at the crossroads last month with two characters. Who to write? In the end, I went with my gut and it's been right so far. Of course, I may feel differently at some point. It's a writer's perogative to change anything and everything.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ah, writers and our what-if's! We are wholly responsible for driving ourselves crazy. :)

    Congrats on 300 followers! Woo hoo!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yay confidence and shiny new ideas! And Matt is super great with queries, so that'll be fun.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I recently tried something I'd never done before, and it was FUN! I guess, go with whichever one is the loudest. :D yes? And unfollow you... Bah! ;o) <3

    ReplyDelete
  16. I am just undergoing the same thing myself re new ideas. It is so hard when one reads this trend is over or this trend is on the up not to feel like one should follow that, esp when new ideas are about and you could go with any.

    I wish you luck with the novel you are writing your query for.

    What a great post + blog!

    Actually found you through the 'tall tales' blog - I followed the links to a few people who entered the competition, as I am newly blogging and seeking to make connections with other YA writers! I have followed you ;) Congrats on the 300 followers - as a newbie I am interested in how you find those connections :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. So it's taken me a bit but I am just catching up on some bloggin' stuff. Congrats on the big 300! Hope you got lots of worthwhile feedback on your query letter. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

Say Something! I reply via email only.