It’s been a long August and now we’re entering a robust September and the release of Paranormal Precognitions has finally come.

It’s been over six years in the writing with countless edits from a freelance editor who had four rounds with it. I started writing this novel March 2003. After a few editing rounds, I decided in 2006 to rewrite the whole thing.

So I erased the novel and started again in my newer voice with cliched characters to remove and exciting new ones to add. There was no other choice for me. I simply had too many changes I wanted to make to continue with editing.

During the summer of 2008 I went through a messy divorce. The manuscript was put on hold as I tried to get my life back together. In the meantime, I wrote short stories like crazy to keep my writing muscle exercised. I ended up writing over 40 short stories. Some of them went on to win awards.

After another rework of this manuscript during the last year and a half since the divorce, the novel changed so much that it really became a new novel. I’d say this book has shed its skin, twice.

The result: an entirely new novel has been written again.

I found that I couldn’t keep the one I wrote during the last few dark years of my marriage.

Being with Brenda has opened me up to new possibilities, new hope.

So, Paranormal Precognitions is born.

Happy reading!

P.S. Watch for paranormal short story collections coming out in October and November.

Photo Credit: Daniel Johnson

Persevere: I started writing when I was quite young. I got more serious about it sometime around the year 2001. My first novel was finished and being queried during the summer of 2002. Nothing came of it.

March 2003 I started another novel. After years of revisions, including four rounds with freelance editor Lisa Rector Maass, Donald Maass’ wife, it was ready for an agent. It’s now 2010. That’s seven years. In that time I wrote almost 50 short stories with 40 of them published. Also guest posts on popular blogs like writetodone.com and Urbanmusewriter.com, one published piece of poetry and I’ve been reading books on how to write since 2001. But yet, I don’t have an agent. I’ve worked for years on perfecting my query letter – still no agent. So I persevere.

You’ve got to keep on, keeping on. Let no one slow you down. Let no one stop you. You’re the most important issue to be dealt with today and every day. People will try to ebb your flow. People have persuasive ways to thwart you, but you must keep moving on. Events have a way of tripping you up. There may even be times when you feel you can’t go on, but you must.

I am.

“If you’re going through hell, keep moving.”

Stay Positive: I’ve met agents, pitched them, had dinner with them and even took a subway ride in New York with one. I had around 50 rejection letters for the first novel. More are just coming in for the second book. I have entered contests where I didn’t place at all, but then in the Writer’s Digest Short Story Contest in 2007, I had five stories place in the top 60, with one of them hitting the 6th place. Just last month I placed second in the Strong Scene Contest. Yet, I stay positive. I am constantly reminding myself that soon (hopefully) an agent will fall in love with my voice and story idea and we’ll be able to move to the next step. I have thought in the past that a certain agent would take me on. We talked. He read parts of my story. But a contract wasn’t forthcoming. I’ve reworked the story. Made it stronger, tightened the pace, added tension. I remain positive that the day is coming sooner rather than later.

Being positive is a choice. I think of myself as a storyteller first. I’m writing my fourth novel now. I have stories to tell. I’m going to keep writing those stories and continue submitting them. Eventually, even if it takes ten novels, I’ll get an agent in love with me and I will be able to share the stories I write. All I can do is continue and get better at it.

“The only way you can consistently experience confidence, even in environments and situations you’ve never previously encountered, is through the power of faith.”

~Tony Robbins

Write: I write every day. It may only be a blog post, but I write every day. Although lately, when I’m writing a new novel I write something new each day for the novel too. A lot of people set goals for day to day writing. My only goal is to approach my work in progress and advance it each and every day. I’ve tried the word count per day structure, but found that sometimes life gets in the way and I fall behind. Then there are feelings of guilt and I’ve got to do more another day to catch up. Now, I have released that pressure from my shoulders and all I ask of myself is to just write something each day. Overall, I get a lot more done this way.

“Write. A lot of people want to be a writer, it seems to me, and they do everything they can to be a writer, except write.”

~Chang-Rae Lee

Focus: This has got to be the most challenging one. I lost a good portion of the last two years as I was going through a messy divorce. Court along with a long list of things that needed to be dealt with kept coming up. The stress and pressure at times was something I’ve never had to go through. My thriving retail business went under and I lost everything because of the divorce. I’m still healing from that experience. During that time, almost two years, my current manuscript was left languishing. I pushed on though; just short stories and some blog posts. Which means I struggled with focus. I think I was more worried about not giving my best to my manuscript so I wrote smaller pieces to at least keep moving forward as a writer.

With focus, you really need to hunker down and do it. One of the toughest parts of my life has come to an end. But it’s behind me and I’m focused now.

“The elevator of success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.”

~Joe Girard

Love what you do: If you’re passionate about what you’re doing then it isn’t work. I love what I do. I spend a greater part of the day not just hanging out with my characters, but creating new ways for them to be hurt and maimed. Seriously, as the story gets told I’m enjoying the process more and more. I’m able to be in their world, explore it with my five senses and walk through the back alleys and dark streets holding a knife while my protagonist is on the run. It’s exciting, it’s energizing, but most of all, I love what I do.

If you don’t love writing or whatever it is you’re doing, you may want to evaluate what you’re doing. It is so important to love what you do that I can’t emphasize it enough. Without love you’ll never be able to give a hundred percent.

“People think about what they don’t want and attract more of the same.”

What have you learned so far? What is happening to you? How are you coping and what are you doing about being your own life manager?

Are you managing your life well?

If not, fire yourself.

Then restart managing with better skills. Take yourself to new heights. Aspire to be. Become what you always wanted to be.

You only have you. Make it count because you are worth it.

Contracts are being written at this very minute while wine glasses are filled. People are being published as bottles empty. Booksellers are getting books and placing them on shelves. All this happens while other writers are getting lost. There’s much ado about writing out there. I’ll break it down into three categories of A.D.O.;

Advice; There’s an abundance of advice on how to write. Thousands of books cover the topic of writing from Stephen King’s “On Writing” to Donald Maass’ “Fire in Fiction”. There are websites, blogs and conferences where you can do seminars to learn the craft. There’s as much advice on how to write as there is air to breathe.

As a writer you need to get to a place where you combine it with practice. When the writing day is over, make sure you’ve scribed something because one of the best schools of writing is writing. It has been said you need to write over a million words before you consider being published. (Then you can crack open that Shiraz or pinot noir and celebrate).

Dawdle; Writer’s procrastinate. It’s as common as breast feeding, just not as good. You can’t dawdle around and expect to have the next best-seller. Read what advice you want; then write. Come up with reasons to do this or that; then write. People with excuses don’t have book deals and people with book deals don’t have excuses.

If you find you have trouble getting into it, set some time goals. Between 11:00am and 1:00pm, I’ll read, study, take notes and ruminate, but at 1:00pm, I start writing.

Odds; We’ve all heard the odds of getting published. They’re against a novice writer. Literary agencies tell us that queries mount into the thousands per year. Hundreds upon hundreds of unsolicited queries hit an agency weekly. And that’s just one agency. There is a phalanx of agencies in New York alone. I’ve read agents who have said they took on two new clients this year. That’s two out of thousands of queries. Wow, you’d have a better chance of bumping into President Obama in self-help section in the Barnes and Noble booksellers on Fifth Avenue.

With that in mind, it doesn’t matter. That’s right, you read it right. It doesn’t matter. (Note to self: get wine ready) It doesn’t matter if you wrote something unique. It doesn’t matter if your voice is unheard of, your style a dream and your story telling ability a number one stunner. The odds don’t matter when you’re good.

So take some advice and don’t dawdle. Avoid thinking about how hard it is to break in to the industry. Just write a damn good story. Write. Make it original. If you knock people out of their chairs with your work, you have a better chance against those odds than if you just knock their socks off. Don’t dawdle, write. Avoid spending too much time with much A.D.O. about writing and get your story on paper.

After all, you’re a storyteller, right?

So write.

Rejection letters are great because that means you sent your material out. It means you’re ready (hopefully) to take your work to the next level. You see, here’s the thing; what if someone told you that the 37^th agent you query would get you a book deal? You would be so excited every time another rejection letter arrived because you’re one closer to that deal. That’s why they’re awesome. Keep querying. Just change the way you think about it.

Years ago I worked as a door to door salesperson doing cold calls. We’d go knocking on doors all over the neighbourhood and eventually get in. Sometimes it took ten minutes, sometimes an hour. Once in a while it took all day. I learned quickly that it was just a matter of knocking on doors before I got in. What I mean is, the more doors I covered, the faster I got in a house to do a presentation and possibly make a sale. So I ran. That’s right, I ran from door to door. It kept me energized and fired up so when I finally got in, I was ready to present and sell. I outsold my team month after month. The rest of the salespeople got depressed when a door slammed in their face. Not me, I loved it, because I was one closer to the door that would welcome me in.

There was this guy who was quite interested in a beautiful house a few blocks from the Chicago airport. Prior to moving in he saw the runways weren’t directly over his house so he bought it. Years go by. The airport’s getting busier. Planes are getting larger. They need to build more runways. Planes now take off and land directly above his house. Housing values plummet in the area. The man can’t sell. He goes to see a psychiatrist as this situation is now making him crazy. Doctor tells him to change the way he looks at it. So he goes home and paints, “Welcome to Los Angeles”, on the roof of his house. Almost every time he hears a plane overhead he laughs.

Change the way you look at it. If your writing is sound, then your only task is to get it out there.

“No one can hurt you without your consent” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Remember that you are going to query agents that may like the story idea, but don’t love it. You need to keep going until you find one that loves it. Each rejection letter is one step closer to the right match.

People with book deals have no excuses and people with excuses have no book deals.

Zig Ziglar said that failure is an event, not a person. You may have failed with that rejection letter but you are not a failure. You wrote a novel. The more failure you saw when growing up makes success harder to believe in. But yet you miss out on 100% of all literary agents that you don’t query. So rejection letters are your confirmation that you’re out there, you’re querying, you’re moving forward. That’s right, moving forward, even when you’re getting a rejection letter.

“Things come to those who wait, but only things left by those who hustled” -Abraham Lincoln

Besides, what’s the worse that can happen? You’re at the same spot as you are now when someone sends you a rejection letter. Send out multiple submissions. Make sure you send queries to the right people at the right agencies. Just make sure you do it.

Two men were hiking through Northern British Columbia. A bear approached from behind looking ready to attack as it eased ever closer. The one man dropped to the ground and yanked off his backpack. He reached in and retrieved a new pair of running shoes. The other man who was still standing asked, “What are you doing? Come on, let’s go. What do you think, you can outrun a bear?”

“No. I just have to outrun you.”

That’s what I’m talking about. Send more queries than the other guy. Don’t focus on the problem. Think prosperous thoughts. Allow prosperity to find you. Get past being stuck. Don’t quit, no matter what. Promise a lot and deliver even more. Be assertive in your actions. Take action. Submit your work. Enjoy rejections because you’re one closer to a book deal.

Enjoy rejections. Change the way you think about them. Read each and every one like it’s an honour badge. Save them all so one day when you’re a famous, published author you can go back and tell people how many you collected until you got the right agent for you. Rejections pile up, and yet, all they are is ammunition for author speeches.

Enjoy rejection. Stand tall. Brush off your shoulders and keep moving forward. Remember that you are one rejection letter closer to a deal.

“They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”

-Gandhi

Even Harry Potter got rejections.

(I’m on holiday’s for a few weeks so I’m reposting a couple of my most popular blog posts in the last three months.)

(Writer’s Block is a Lie was a guest post on UrbanMuseWriter.com on Monday May 24. Here it is for those that didn’t visit Urban Muse.)

Writer’s block is a lie. This isn’t grandstanding. I’m serious.

Let me explain. I don’t mean you are lying. I also don’t mean that writer’s block doesn’t exist.

Nor is writer’s block an area of a neighbourhood where writers converge to write. (If there is such a block, I’d love to visit that neighbourhood).

Writer’s block can be described as such; having trouble moving forward with whatever it is you’re writing. It’s when you hover over the keyboard with your fingertips and nothing moves. The piece you’re writing is stuck. More importantly, you’re stuck. Why?

Because you’re lying to yourself. You’re trying to write what’s not natural. Trying to force something out that isn’t in you.

Efficiency means doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things

-Zig Ziglar

So be effective and write the right things and then be efficient and do it right.

I want you to go back in time and remember when the words flowed. When the scene you were writing coursed through your fingertips. Nothing could stop you. Interruptions were annoying. You were in love with what you were doing. You felt excitement and energy as you typed fast.  You had great expectations of success. Right at that moment you felt your readers would love this stuff. It’s something akin to being in the zone. You were a writer in the zone at that moment. You were confident. You believed in that moment. You were good at what you were doing. It was all worth it. There was no struggle to write. No writer’s block to deal with.

What were you writing? What kind of writing was it? Fiction or non-fiction? What was it that got you so energized? How could you be in the zone at one point while writing, but now you suffer from writer’s block?

The difference; when your fingers were tossing the keyboard around, you were writing what was in your heart. The stuff that makes you a writer. You were writing your best material because you were so intimate about it.

Now, examine what you’re scribing when you get blocked. Are you in love with it? Do you feel it in your heart? Seriously, can you really say it is the same stuff?

Writing a funny witty piece with fabulous dialogue are you? Oh, zipping through it? Wow, good for you. Now, come over here and write up my tax return papers. How excited are you?  Can you honestly take the same vim and vigour to the tax paperwork? Or maybe you need to write a 20 page reply to your ex-spouses lawyer.

Back to my original point; writer’s block is a lie because you’re lying to yourself. If you sat down with the intention to write something, by choice, and you’ve got writer’s block, you have to choose something else to write. It isn’t in your heart to write that piece. If you force yourself and continue through it, the material won’t be top-grade stuff. It can’t be. Remember, your best stuff was when it flowed with ease.

Writing is about honesty. Telling the truth on the page, like telling the truth in a relationship, always takes you deeper

-Julia Cameron

This is a topic that almost every writer has had to deal with. Only the ones who are true to themselves deal with writer’s block less.

Any writer who has felt the full force of writer’s block knows how debilitating the feeling can be. It makes you feel that you can’t write. You can’t move forward. But that would be a lie, because you actually can write. What have you done so far? In other works you wrote some great stuff, which proves you can write.

Here are a few suggestions to be rid of writer’s block;

1. Stop: write something else. Spend time writing in your journal or write a letter. Take a period of time away from the “stuck” stuff. Let things cool. Ruminate. Maybe come back to it, maybe not.
2. Stop completely; file that blocked stuff away and don’t return to it. Write what comes out easier. Write what empowers you. Listen to your inner voice (not the ones in your head-they can be scary) and write what you’re best at.
3. Change P.O.V.; get out of that characters head and get into someone else’s. Or change from 3rd person to 1st person, or vice versa.
4. Evaluate; why are you writing topics that stop you? Isn’t life too short to wasting time on things that you force out? Look at what motivates you. Is the struggle worth it? Figure it out and stop denying yourself. Stop lying to yourself.

You are too valuable to let this get you down. Think prosperous thoughts. Get past being stuck. Don’t quit, no matter what.

I once read that the greatest limitation is the fear of failure. Belief in failure is a way of poisoning the mind. When we store negative emotions we affect our physiology, our thinking process and our state. Writer’s block is a form of this.

When you have a clear purpose you won’t have time for negativity

-Stephen Covey

You’re a writer.

So write.

Guest post by Brenda Sedore

It took me a long time to find my voice. I didn’t start writing with serious intention until I was in my mid twenties. Even then I had no idea of the type of writing I wanted to do or what I was good at. Haven’t we all been at that place? So, I started what I now realize was a seriously ambitious project; a Medieval novel.

I worked at it for a while. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t my best work either. I then started the first draft of my current novel. After writing at least two drafts, I put it aside and began a completely different style of book. It was more of a chick-lit novel, which was popular at the time. It wasn’t horrible either, in fact there are many parts that are excellent. But, it still wasn’t my voice and the passion wasn’t there for me.
I began another novel, this one more in the vein of my second novel and it was excellent right from the start. This one was in my voice. I realized that I couldn’t work on a second novel until my first one was complete. I know, it sounds like I was going crazy. What I was doing was exploring my writing. I was figuring out what inspired me. What type of writing did I enjoy?

I went back to The Ties that Wound, my second novel that I’d written a couple of drafts of. I hired an editor to help me shape up the book. She advised me to rewrite it. So, I began rewriting. I got about 40,000 words in and then my life fell apart. My husband and I got a divorce. So, the writing was shelved again for almost 2 years.

During that time I got together with a wonderful man, who is also a writer, and the owner of this blog. We worked through the things life threw at us and then we both began writing again. By the time I got back into it, everything had changed for me.

I spent twenty years with a man who kept me from being myself. It’s a long story, but it wasn’t until I left that I was able to expand into everything I am as a person. This, of course, affected my writing. I had to take some time to re-evaluate and get comfortable with my new style. The important thing to remember is that our writing will evolve as we do.

Up until recently I felt that I was more inclined to write non-fiction than fiction. I was still struggling to find my voice. It wasn’t until I opened up my half-rewritten novel, The Ties that Wound, that I realized I’d known my voice all the time. It was just that the style of writing I do best is the type that pulls everything out of me. It is scary to reveal that much of myself. Daryl has talked about this before. One of the reasons I was struggling was because of fear. What if I couldn’t deal with the subject matter in a sensitive enough way? Then I realized if it’s my voice, I will do a good job.

I recently read in the book, Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton, a story about how he was reading letters from these prison inmates and how he found them so interesting and funny. They were imaginative and it caused him to think that he had found a niche. He then asked these inmates to write him a short story. What he got from them shocked him. The stories they wrote were nothing like their letters. They were boring, stilted and not in any way worth publishing. He realized then that as soon as someone tries to write for an audience, they clam up. They try for a certain “voice” rather than just being themselves. You need to write for yourself and no one else. If you “try” to write, it won’t come out right.

“We get so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.”~Francis Duc de La

That’s the key. You are the only person who can “speak” in your voice. No one else can put words together quite like you. Hone your voice. Don’t be afraid to be you in your writing. It’s what will make you stand out among all the other talent out there.

“I need to stop questioning myself…right?” ~unknown

At our recent writers’ group meeting, we all read from our assigned stories. It was a summer memory of 400-500 words. I was amazed at the variety of stories that were shared, all in each unique voice. One assignment, vastly different results. That’s why there can be so many different books in the world. Daryl has written a very good blog post called “Writer’s Block is a Lie“. In it he says that writer’s block can happen when you don’t write in your voice. I have found the same thing for myself. When I write in my voice, the writing flows freely.

How do you find your voice? Start with writing something natural to you, such as a journal or a letter to a good friend. In that letter, tell them a story or relate a funny incident that happened to you. Then open your novel and try to write in the same voice. Let those unique words and ways of putting a sentence together come out in your fiction. It takes practice, but after a while it will become second nature. The only drawback is, you may have to rewrite your novel as you realize most of what you’ve written so far is weak compared to what you’ve written in your voice.

One practice I have, which has helped me the most, is to begin each writing session by writing, freehand, in my journal. This not only gets me into my voice, but also gets the writing muscles stretched and ready for a workout.

Do you have a unique way to begin your writing session? For those of you who have found your voices, what tools, exercises or books helped you along the way?

Photo credit: dbdbrobot

Writers write. That’s it. Simple.

Motivation to write is at an all time high. More people write in 2010 than in any other era. Today, I want to address the people who are writing for publication. What motivates you? What brings you to your work in progress everyday? Do you write everyday?

As a writer, and yes, I call myself one; I’ve noticed that many writers need motivation. Actually, there’s a trend: writers who don’t need motivation are published authors. They’re the ones who have books on the shelves in your local bookstore. They’re the ones who write everyday.

I’m not saying writers with less discipline won’t get published, it’s just they need more of a shove to get their thoughts on paper and I’m looking to find out why that is.

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.

~Jules Renard

Donald Maass, a literary agent in New York, pointed out in his book, Fire in Fiction, that there are two kinds of writers: Status Seekers and Story Tellers.

Are you a status seeker? Do you want to tell everyone you’re a writer? Even if the piece you’ve written isn’t at its best, do you try and try again to get it published? When industry professionals explain why it isn’t ready, do you counter their claims with attitude? After that’s all done, did you go and self-publish? How many sold? To whom? Family and friends?

My point isn’t to berate. I simply want to know, are you a writer, or do you just call yourself one?

For storytellers, the game is different. I consider myself a storyteller. I am currently writing my fourth novel. I’ve written fifty short stories. I’ve been published in two different newspapers and I’ve won a number of contests. Recently, two different Anthologies have accepted three short stories, which will all be published early next year.

The reason for this is because I tell stories. I’ve got too many floating around, yearning for the empty page. I started writing the novel I’m currently querying in 2003. I’ve done four revisions with a professional freelance editor out of New York with countless drafts to make sure it’s just right.

Around 2006, in my seventh draft, I decided to hit the delete button and re-write the entire novel in my current voice. I felt each scene would be better served to write it fresh instead of constantly trying to tweak my two-year-old writing.

That’s over seven years of working on the same manuscript. The average writer gets their first deal after eleven years. I’ve still got a ways to go as I want my story told properly.

Are you a storyteller? Do you write because you love it? Are you passionate about it? If you are, then it’s not work. Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Tell me your story. How long have you been at it?

What are your successes?

What are your goals?

Are you a storyteller?

Are you a writer?

You can be both. Just don’t be status seekers.

We get so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves

~Francois Rochofoucauld

Photo credit: tibchris

To esteem oneself can suck. It seems to be one of the hardest things we humans don’t know how to do. The problem; if you don’t have self-esteem, your life will then suck.

Ask yourself that classic question: What would you do if you know you couldn’t fail? I mean, seriously, what would you actually do? Would you open a book store? Would you compete against Apple’s iphone 4? (Don’t try this – you’d fail). Or would you just go get more beer?

Let’s think about self-esteem in a different way. How do you view yourself? Do you love yourself? I mean really love yourself? Do you love who you are, where you live, how you treat others in your life?

Did you know that in North America there’s only one in every three people with high self-esteem?

The possibilities are endless when you believe in yourself.

Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t

~Jerry Rice

The problem is that self-esteem leaks into everything you do. You’ve got to truly love yourself before you can truly love someone else. If you can’t and don’t, then how can you give part of yourself to the relationship you’re in? How can you validate, care for, and reassure the person you’re with if you can’t really love in the first place?

There are so many books on this topic. They cover the psychology of conditioning when you were a child to self-help for adults. This post is only a small look at a problem that many people experience on a day to day basis.

The reason I’m bringing it up is because I had a period in my life when my self-esteem was in peril. In my late teens to early twenties I got lost on the road to value. It took years of studying to start to get it. I read “Dare to Win,” by Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield and “Unlimited Power,” by Tony Robbins. I went on to read many books by many authors from the self-help section. Finally in the late 1990’s I started a company and then bought one, ultimately building that one until it became quite profitable.

My point is; I learned to believe in myself and what I could do.

People are rich because they decided to be rich. People are poor because they haven’t yet decided to be rich.’

~Unknown

Rich can be money, but it can also be love, or even health. You have to decide. You have to stand up and change. You are your own life manager. If you don’t like where you are in life, then fire yourself and get a new manager. Stand up, brush off your shoulders and change what you’re doing.

If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions

~Unknown

You’ve got to take charge. Get moving. Where do you want to be one year from now? Then act that way. Today. Even if you just drive to the local book store and buy one book on self-esteem or something on how to better yourself, then you’re on your way.

Be the opposite of stagnant. You are so worth it. If you are breathing and you eat food, then you’re worth it. Maybe people in your life don’t think so. Doesn’t matter now. You’re an adult. You are a somebody. Maybe it’s your friends. Then choose new ones. All that matters is you’re worth it.

Decide.

Today.

Do it.

Be strong and raise your self-esteem.

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop

~Usman B. Asif

Why Write? Why do it?

I do it because I get to leave.

Seriously.

While writing I get to go somewhere. This place I go is wild, exciting and thrilling. People are being chased, run over and shot at. People die so others can live. People swear and yell out funny but embarrassing comments while on elevators. Sometimes people even get hit by an ambulance.

Weird luck.

You see, I get to go anywhere I want.

I write because of osmosis too. By dictating the story, pruning through edits and finally polishing the polish, I can place the story idea in the readers head.

I feel as most writers do, I’m sure, that my stories are decent. The more readers I have, the happier I am.

I’m a storyteller. Always have been. Even as a wee one. This is what I do. It’s way too exciting on a daily basis to ever contemplate doing something else.

I was in New York a few years back, sitting in a beautiful restaurant having dinner with a wonderful literary agent and my editor. The agent posed a question. He was curious why I would want to become a full-time writer when I already have a thriving business of my own. He went on to explain how much hard work it is to be writer.

I love it too much, I told him. I’ve also got too many stories to tell. I’ve written fifty short stories, two full novels with a third in progress while I’m working on my forth.

I can’t stop. I’m infected. The virus is spreading. Eyes bleary. Fingers dancing, hitting keys at will. Story developing despite the sore back. Computer overheating as the tension mounts…

I think you get it. I’m a writer. I love it. I’m passionate about it. I can’t stop. If publication wasn’t an option, I’d write for my woman. I’d write for my kids. A story of their very own. I’d write for me. If only to get the voices to stop. What’s that? No I couldn’t. Why? Because, I won’t. You do it then.

Oh, sorry. See, they never stop. Even when I’m talking to you, the reader, they insist on being heard. All humour aside, I will not write romance.

That’s what the one voice asks all the time. Romance, romance, romance. You know, just to quell that voice I might add a nice sexy time scene in a police chase gone awry.

But anyway, back to the original point.

I can sum it up in one word;   Love, Passion and Hope.

I know that was more than one word, but that’s the essence of it isn’t it?

I can do what I want.

Now, if only they’d pay me more…

1. Psychologically Revealing:  If you’re male and you write thrillers where women always seem to get beat up and abused, it may tell the reader about your struggle with the opposite sex. What you write is your voice. It comes through quite loud at times. It can reveal what you find appealing and what you find repulsive. What are we seeing between the lines? Although, usually, it’s not obvious. I’m sure there are many readers who get lost in the story and that is as far as it goes for them. But there are also people who look deeper. If you’re not buying what I’m selling here, read Edgar Allen Poe.

2. Fear of Rejection: It’s out there. Once you’ve written something and submitted it, even if it’s in notes on Facebook, it’s out there. People               can now pass judgment. If you fear rejection, this is a tough one. You could always write for yourself. Keep a diary, a journal. Or you could               write and allow others to read it. But if you do, criticism will follow. Not from everyone, but there’s people with big egos who have to knock               what you’ve done, even if it’s great. Then there’s the editor who is putting the story first. They’re the ones to listen to. Get used to critics.                     Embrace it. Learn to love the coach. Even Hemingway edited.

3. Fear of failure: This can stop a writer cold. He can be typing through a scene, start thinking about how this whole business of writing isn’t              going anywhere and just stop. I’ve heard of writers who then go and delete what they have, close their laptop and walk away. That’s how                      serious this fear can be. It’s debilitating. Usually people who experience this fear never get published for obvious reasons. These are people              who aren’t ready for publication. They fear failure so much that their ability to try has been hampered too much. Remember; Success is                      found in cans, failure in can’ts.

People have discussed fears for years. We’ve all heard that fear itself is all we should fear. All I want to say about this topic and how it impacts writers is one of the ways to combat your fears is to flood them.

What you are afraid to do is a clear indicator of the next thing you should do

~Anthony Robbins

Even though you fear failure, keep typing. Shrug it off. So what if it goes nowhere. At least you got to write a great story. Share it with ten people or a hundred, or don’t share it at all, but write. That’s what you’ve got to do; write!

Despite your fear of rejection, find a way to get it to inspire you. For every rejection letter you receive, send out two more submissions. When a fellow reader doesn’t give the expected reaction, brush it off as a personal thing. All I’m saying is try to focus on you and your writing and not on the naysayer. Stay away from the bull-ring as talked about in my previous post.

Below is a list of some of the other fears writers experience. This post would be too long if I were to discuss each one. Take from it what you want and flood the rest.

4. Fear of Commitment

5. Reading my writing to a group

6. Fear of not “knowing” enough (write what you know)

7. Never being published

8. Fear of being published and what that’ll mean to you

9. Fear of writer’s block

10.  Fear of mediocrity

Fear is a darkroom where negatives develop

~Usman B. Asif

Photo Credit: AllyRichelle