Outer Banks Here We Come

The Aspiring Author will be taking a break as our family travels down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to enjoy the sand, the beach, and fireworks over the water.

I hope all our readers have a happy, healthy, and safe Indepedence Day!

Focus on You, Not Them

We've already discussed how negative self-talk can prevent the aspiring author from achieving success; but what about how others view you and your abilities?

In the Secrets of Spiritual Happiness, author Sharon Janis says, "Others can either help to raise us up into greater levels of awareness, or they can keep us limited to their small views of who and what they think we are or should be."

There will always be people who question your dream of being a published author. There will always be people who don't think you have what it takes to achieve your goals.

Don't listen to them!

Accept honest feedback, but don't allow another person to bring you down. You are in contol of your destiny. You hold the key to unlocking your potential. You lose that control when you allow what other people think to limit what you can accomplish.

Instead of focusing on what others think of you, focus on what you think of yourself. This is why getting rid of negative self-talk is so important. If you're focusing on you instead of others, but doubt your own abilities or put yourself down constantly, then you're back in the same river but in a different boat.

When I found this picture at Despair.com that I used for this blog entry, I thought of so many people in my past who did exactly what the caption says, "...live to crush those dreams."

Do I care why they want to crush my dreams? Not really. All I know is that it's important for my life and my career to not allow their negativity to become my problem.

While browsing online I came across a discussion about whether you should avoid negative people or change them. Depending upon who they are and the significance they have in your life will determine your actions. I don't always believe you can change a person, so I usually go with the avoid them idea. I surround myself with positive people and I feel better about my outlook on life. If I meet someone new and she is more concerned with problems than solutions, I don't usually foster a relationship with her.

On the other hand, negative people can be your spouses, your parents or children. It's not like you can avoid those people. This is where focusing on you, and not them, comes most in handy.

It's hard to keep going when you don't have the support you're looking for, but you can find it in places like writing groups and social networks, where likeminded individuals can offer the positive reinforcement that you need.

Plato once wrote, "The man who makes everything that leads to happiness depend upon himself, and not upon other men, has adopted the very best plan for living happily."

Focus on you and don't let others crush your dreams.

Interview at Blogcritics

To celebrate the release of her new book, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing, Mayra Calvani interviewed several book reviewers at Blogcritics.

I was honored that Mayra asked to interview me about my blog, The Book Connection, where I post author interviews and reviews, and have guest bloggers talking about their books and offering all kinds of great advice. You'll find our interview posted here.

You can find out more about Mayra Calvani and her books at www.mayracalvani.com/index.html And don't forget to check out her Slippery Book Review Blog.

Here is an interview I performed with Mayra for her horror novel, Dark Lullaby

I also reviewed Dark Lullaby and Mayra's children's book Crash!

Look for my review of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing COMING SOON!!!

My latest Writer2Writer article

The final portion of my three-part article series titled Spring into an Organized and Clutter Free Home Office is now online at the Writer2Writer site.

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 to get your home office organized and free of clutter so you can have more productive writing time.

While you're there, check out the new Writer2Writer blog.

Fear of Success and Negative Self-talk

Fear of success? Is that even possible?

The answer is yes!

We've actually touched upon one aspect of fear of success in our first discussion about what keeps aspiring authors from becoming published authors.

Part of fear of success is believing you're not good enough. Negative self-talk is damaging and limiting. It not only increases stress; it limits you by making you believe you can't do something.

So, how can you stop negative self-talk?

Here are some ideas:

Journaling: Every writer I know keeps a journal. Let the words flow, but go back afterwards and analyze your thoughts. Really get a feel for how you see yourself.

Stop that Thought: When you hear that negative self-talk, whether it be in your head or out loud, say, "stop". This will make you aware of your negative thoughts.

Replace Negative Statements with the Positive Questions: Instead of saying, "This is impossible!" say "How is this possible?" When you feel like saying, "How can I be so stupid!" say "How can avoid that mistake in the future?"

Negative self-talk is a bad habit, but it can be changed. Become more aware of when negativity takes a hold of you so that you can replace those moments with positive energy. Focus on all the things you do right, not the areas where you feel you're lacking.

We'll continue our discussion on fear of success soon. Get ready to write down what obstacles are standing in the way of your success and the changes you can put in motion to make it happen.

Putting Fear of Failure in Perspective

Along with the issues of self-doubt and anxiety, fear of failure can be a huge obstacle for an aspiring author to overcome. Last year I read Judi Moreo's book, You Are More Than Enough Every Woman's Guide to Purpose, Passion & Power and I came across a section where Judi talks about fear of failure. This is what she had to say:

"What's wrong with failure anyway? Why do we let it stop us from doing, achieving, and having what we want? Failure just means you've discovered one more way that doesn't work. Thomas Edison worked for more than a year and a half to create a better, long-lasting light bulb that could be used in a mainstream application. During that time he found 9,999 ways that didn't work. If he hadn't persisted, you might be reading this book by candlelight! If you try and still don't get the result you want, it simply means you were willing to risk, it might take longer than you expected, your goal was unreasonable, you have to do something differently next time, or you have an opportunity to start something new which is more suited to you.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just overcome this fear? We know there's always a chance we will fail, so why worry about it? Everyone else has the same chance of failure as we do. We are not the exception to the rule, but we will never succeed unless we try."

Looking at fear of failure in this way makes writers heroic every time they send out a submission; even if it gets rejected.

I found a few quotes about mistakes which further help to put fear of failure in perspective.

“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” - Edward J. Phelps

"It's okay to make mistakes. Mistakes are our teachers - they help us to learn." - John Bradshaw

"The greatest mistake a man can ever make is to be afraid of making one." - Elbert Hubbard

"So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because that's where you will find success. On the far side of failure." - Thomas J. Watson, Sr.

Terry Bragg, the author of 31 Days to High Self-esteem put together an eight-step plan to overcome failure. I would like to share it with you here:

Step One: Take action

"Action gives you the power to change the circumstances or the situation," says Bragg. What could you achieve if you weren't afraid to fail? Nike has an ad campaign that says, "Just do it." Write this down on a sticky pad and attach it to you computer screen.

Anytime you feel paralyzed by fear of failure, read that quote and heed it's advice.

Step Two: Persist.

How many times have you heard published authors give advice that includes, don't give up? Why do you think that is? Because successful people don't give up! They try something, and if it doesn't work out, they try something else. They keep trying until they get the results they want.

Step Three: Don't take failure personally.

Here's a big one. When you don't get the results you want, it doesn't mean you're a failure. It simply means you tried and it didn't work out. See Step Two for what you need to do next.

Step Four: Do things differently.

This is a no-brainer, but there are so many people out there who keep approaching things the same way and not getting the results they're looking for. Well, stop it! Don't be afraid to try something new. It might make a world of difference.

Step Five: Don't be so hard on yourself.

Raise your hand if you're too hard on yourself. Yes, mine is raised to. I am my own worse critic. I give into negative self-talk. As Bragg says about failure, "If nothing else, you know what doesn't work."

Step Six: Treat the experience as an opportunity to learn.

I'm a strong non-fiction writer, but fiction offers me challenges like there's no tomorrow. The most difficult thing I struggle with is "show don't tell". Luckily, I have a good group of people who critique my work and offer suggestions.

In the writing world they say that practice makes perfect. So I am practicing a lot. And I'm learning a lot. Each time I write a short story, I am improving my craft. Each article I read about "show don't tell" brings me that much closer to mastering this aspect of fiction writing on my own.

Step Seven: Look for possible opportunities that result from the experience.

If you submit a short story to a market and receive a rejection letter, what opportunities or benefits does that provide?

Well, it could provide you with an opportunity to review your story with a fresh set of eyes and revise it to make the story stronger. Perhaps this also gives you the chance to perform additional market research and find a home that is even a better fit than the one you had originally chosen.

Always look for the benefit.

Step Eight: Fail forward fast. According to Bragg, this is a term used by management guru, Tom Peters. It means that the way to learn is to make mistakes. So if we want to learn faster, we must make mistakes faster too. The important thing to remember is to not repeat those mistakes.

With eight tiny steps you can move forward with your writing career, without the fear of failure.

I want to leave you with a powerful quote from Susan Jeffers, which came from her book, Feel the Fear...And Do It Anyway:

"I said to myself: 'You mean all those people out there that I’ve been envying because they’re not afraid to move ahead with their lives have really been afraid? Why didn’t somebody tell me!?' I guess I never asked."

To Blog or not to Blog...That is the Question

As a virtual book tour coordinator, I am constantly surfing the Internet for interesting, eye-catching, and frequently updated blogs to host Pump Up Your Book Promotion's clients.

Our tours typically consist of a healthy mix of book review, author interview, genre and/or topic, reader, and writer blogs. What never ceases to amaze me, however, is the number of writers who don't blog. It doesn't make sense when the Internet has opened up new and free avenues for writers to promote their work, that people out there aren't taking advantage of it.

I can understand why some writers don't have websites (I don't know much about HTML either), but blogs? Come on, you're missing a chance to promote your work for free and all you have to do is something you already love--write.

In the pre-blog world writers were told the importance of having a website--and they definitely have value. A blog, however, gives you the chance to have ongoing conversations with your readers in a way that just isn't possible with a website.

I always tell my clients, if you have to decide between creating a website and creating a blog, then I suggest a blog. I have both, and the number of visitors to my website doesn't even come close to the number of people stopping by The Book Connection.

So, my question to you is: do you have blog? If so, what do you like about it? What are some of the benefits that blogging has provided you? And if you don't have a blog, what's keeping you from starting one?





Cartoon image borrowed from http://www.blogoklahoma.com/

Are You Honest about Your Work?

During our discussions about what keeps aspiring authors from achieving published author status, one person gave this as a reason: "They aren't willing to be honest about the quality of their work. Every one can be a writer, but not everyone is willing to learn how to write. Just because you can put together a correct sentence doesn't mean you can make an interesting statement or create drama."

So, how are you on the honestly scale?

Do you accept feedback well or do you start throwing things around the room when someone dare criticize your baby? Can you face an editor's rejection and consider your piece might need some work?

I've been told by my editor that I'm very open to feedback. I like to believe that is true. Who wins if I shut off any and all suggestions on how to improve my work? Certainly not me.

The key is not to take a critique personally. Sometimes harder said than done...especially if the person who provides the feedback isn't too diplomatic about it. But no matter how the feedback is delivered, does the person make valid points? Can he see something you can't because he has no emotional ties to the piece? Are there areas that more than one person points out as needing improvement? If so, then they're probably right.

I'll be the first to admit that I am a non-fiction writer. I'm comfortable with it--probably because I think the whole world is waiting to hear my opinion on things. LOL! But I struggle like crazy with fiction. I can't get the whole show don't tell thing down right for one thing. I'm not always sure what descriptions should be included and which ones aren't important. My taglines usually need some work.

But I refuse to give up. I keep reading, I keep writing, and I figure a writing class or two is in my future. Speaking of writing classes, this is the remainder of what this person wrote when she was talking about people not being honest about the quality of their work: "Taking writing classes not only teaches the craft, but help to make contacts as well."

Hmmm...learning how to write better and networking too. Sure sounds like a win-win situation to me.

So, how am I doing?

At the begining of January, I set some goals as part of the Achieve Your Dreams Virtual Book Tour. Since I'll be away at the end of June, I figured I would do my quarterly round up early. Besides, it will give me a chance to share some good news.

Goal #1: I will make more time for my own writing.

Believe it or not, I am starting to make progress. I've missed writing and I am slowly plugging away at a few children's stories while waiting for vacation so that I can concentrate on some other things.

Goal #2: I will post at this blog more often.

I've done better since the last time I posted, but I still have big plans for this blog that I haven't been able to implement yet. Stay tuned!

Goal #3: I will appreciate my family more.

My family suffered a lot these past couple of months as I suddenly became overcomitted and couldn't find my way out of it. Now that school is almost over for the girls, things should lighten up...at least we hope so.

Goal #4: I will not over commit.

NOT! I'm still working on learning to say, "no", but it will come. I'm not volunteering for every project at the girls' schools, which helps, but I really want to find myself using that magic word to make more time for my writing and my family.


I continue to stay focused on my goals and know I can be successful. These little round ups help me to stay on track.

Anxiety and Self-Doubt Can Cripple an Aspiring Author

Here is a guest post that I provided to StoryCrafters last year. It flows nicely into some of the conversations we've been having about what keeps aspiring authors from becoming published authors.



In Heather Sellers' book Page after Page she says in order to learn how to write every day, "writers have to gently embrace ambivalence, anxiety, not-sure-ness."

Usually, I have my blog entry planned a week in advance; not the words, but the idea is formed in my head enough where I can type it up with ease, edit it a couple times, and then hit "publish post." But not this week. I drew a blank. What did I have to offer of value to anyone? There are many members on StoryCrafters whose experience in the field of writing surpasses mine. These peers--can I even call them that since I am so lame compared to them--post in the Bragging Rights section about their latest sales, while I have struggled along for the past three years squeaking out only one sale, a finished novel that might never go anywhere, and another whose progress seems destined to stay at the 15,200 words I wrote for NaNo. And yet, here is Sellers telling me I have to embrace these feelings. What kinds of drugs is this woman doing, and where in the heck can I get some?

"Anyone can start writing," claims Sellers. "To keep on creating and grow as a writer, you also believe you suck." Ok, now I'm sitting here screaming, "She understands me!" but she says it's a good thing I feel this way.

What? How can that possibly be? I must read more.

Then Sellers tells me, I have to start looking at self-doubt and anxiety in a whole new way. "Being unsure," she says, "is one of the things that helps you steer in revision." So, there is a good reason to feel this way. Hmmm...

What do you know, experiencing self-doubt and anxiety doesn't make me a worse writer, it actually helps me. Who would have thought? Now, I'll have to think of self-doubt and anxiety as my friends instead of my enemies. I'll have to be careful they don't move in and take over my house, but without them hanging by my side, I wouldn't be pushed into making every article, every paragraph, every sentence, each word, the best it can be.

I guess, I could hope to be one of those writers whose first drafts are close to their published works. Maybe I would feel better if my resume had a long string of impressive writing credits. But that doesn't make me a writer. The actual art of sitting down and putting pen to paper or typing out words on a keyboard is what makes me a writer. No one can tell my articles or stories the same way I can. And that is the value behind them.