I can't hear you!

What?! Huh? I'm not listening to you! Sounds like the ranting of a 2 year old but these are things we might wish we could say to that naughty, whining inner critic voice. The little voice that fills your head with dark doubts and despair while paralyzing our fingers and keeps us from typing a perfectly crafted manuscript.

So how do you tune out your inner critic?

Just start writing! Begin by typing whatever first pops into your head. Write about the weather, type gibberish, describe the cream patterns in your coffee, the dust particles floating in the air. Be serious or light hearted. Write about all your fears or the crazy things your kids do. Just keep writing and soon you won't even notice that little voice. Write nonsense for 15 minutes, then an amazing thing will happen...

You will find yourself focused and able to concentrate. Ideas, characters, scenes, and plot twists start flowing sometimes faster then you can type. You are now on fire and nothing is going to stop you!

My husband recently gave me several writing notebooks. Along with them, he included a note:

My Beloved,

These are hungry, "no perfection allowed" notebooks. They must be fed constantly with wild imperfect ideas and sentences. Bad spelling is best. If they do not get frequent entries they will whine and complain. If too much thought is put into the wording, they will whine and complain. If you worry about what you are writing, they will whine and complain. Feed them well! If you do, they will provide you seeds for stories.

-Love, Ben

The key is to write, write, write and then write some more. Write a lot! Don't worry about the imperfections... for now. Just keeping writing and write everyday. Those little voices will come back from time to time. E.L. Doctorow said it best, "Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

Drown out those voices with the noise from your keyboard!

Liebster Nomination!

Something like this only more random

Back in Elementary school I used to play Leap Frog. Way back in the day, playgrounds still had merry-go-rounds, and big metal domes that you could climb and jump off of when boys were chasing you. We also had these HUGE tractor tires that we could use to jump over or hide in. There were about six of them and they got smaller in size. The game was like this. At least one person would curl up in a ball at the end of the tires (as if they were the smallest tire) and the other person, or persons would run and try to jump and "straddle" the tires, one after another until they reached the other person (aka smallest tire) and they would then curl up and become the tire. (Honestly I am not sure that does the game any justice, as it seemed to be more exciting twenty years ago!) Anyway, the point of the game is that the fun was passed from one "frogger" to the next.

So rather than continuing to bore you with nostalgic memories of playgrounds from the past - I will explain myself. I couldn't help but think of Leap Frog when our good friend Julie Hess nominated our little, old blog for the Liebster Award. Oh, sweet Julie - thank you!

The Liebster Award is a little like Leap Frog, it's sharing the love that small blogs want the most; it promotes the "best kept secret" blogs, the ones with less than 200 followers. And so the game continues - as part of our nomination, we get to nominate five other blogs that we feel deserve some love.

And here they are:

Literally YA: This is a blog that I found through a fairly popular literary blog and was absolutely blown away - and it was created by a student! Not only does she have great advice for all writer's, she is offers support, encouragement, and resources for teen writer's.

It's Good To Be Gold: Oh, Tonya. This is the blog of our dear friend Tonya Gold. I can't say enough about Tonya - if everyone could have her optimism and outlook on life the world would be a better place. Tonya's blog showcases her beautiful family in way that will bring a smile to your face.

Mosher Family: Yes! Another Tonya! This is a blog I love to read! With as much as Tonya has been through, she is such a source of inspiration. I love to read her blog and feed off her insight. I know that one day she hopes to write a book, and I can tell you that I will be the first in line to buy it!!

Adventures in Writing & Publishing: When I met Lisa Ard, at a writer's conference, she had just signed her first publishing contract. An aspiring writer no more! She had made it! Her blog is her journey after signing the contract. The copyright laws, marketing, self promotion, Amazon tags, wondering want to bring to her first book signing, all the joys of an author after a book deal. Her blog is very informative and personal. I hope to put her knowledge to the test after I sign my first contract!

Britt's Apron: This blog is just sheer fun! Brittany shares healthy, tasty and easy recipes and cute crafts. I want my house to look like her blog; full of interesting textures, cool crafts and yummy homemade food. I love everything about this blog even the template and font she uses. It's blogs like this that cause me to surf the web for hours. 

The other part of the nomination process is that in order to receive the Liebster Award, one must do a few things (in order to help other blogs get some love) -

1. On your blog , thank the person nominating you and link back to his/her blog.

2. Nominate up to five more blogs that you think should have more followers.

3. Notify those people on their blogs.

4. Post the award (the graphic) on your blog.

Now do you see the Leap Frog tie-in? Our friend Julie (who nominated us) said it was a little like a chain-letter, and yes, it is. That's what makes it great - you never know what new-to-you blogs you will find - you just might find yourself, blogspired!

Motivation Monday

"Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter.  Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Baby Steps (Part 1)

A book is an author's baby; new,precious, adorable - something to snuggle late at night when you are dreaming of the day it will be published ;)

With that said it is difficult to put your "baby" out there for the world to see/criticize.  Doubt toys with your emotions, and far too often we keep our babies sheltered for fear of rejection.  We keep them tucked into our computers where they are "safe" and no one can hurt them.

Unfortunately, the one hurting them the most, is usually us.  

Children, as well as books, have to grow and explore.  They need to see the world - and yes they need to feel disappointment.  If we hoard them to ourselves we are stunting their growth.  

For anyone who knows me, you know that I always "try" to see both sides of any situation, so let me turn the table for a second.  By no means am I saying that everyone whose written a book/play/poem, whatever, needs to immediately start querying every literary agent possible.  NO, do not do this.  What I am saying is that you need to find a core group of people you trust to read what you have written and ask them to give you honest feedback. (Helpful, honest feedback to be blogged later)

There are so many things that we miss as a writer, our minds know exactly what every word, sentence, and chapter means, but somehow we miss little details and sometimes words. I am amazed every time I give something to my wonderful sister-in-law (and faithful first-eyes), she's a literary hound dog and honestly should be an editor!  

So that's it: Baby step #1.  Find your core support group.  Find the people that will cheer you on, no matter the circumstances and/or outcome.  Build your self-confidence through them if you have to, but share your talent.  It's difficult in the beginning but once you've found them, hold on to them - they are, truly priceless!   My core group - a few friends, my sister, and my sister-in-law - are my lifeline and of whom without, I am quite certain I would have given up a long time ago.

Another day, another rejection letter….. all signs of good things to come.

Perhaps this sounds vaguely familiar: You mailed off your manuscript with great confidence, hope and much anticipation. It's by far your best work yet and bound to be published. You're thinking, "This is going to be the one!" You can picture it now. Soon you will receive that call from the publisher, a huge advance and a movie deal. You can just feel it! This is your time! You've worked so hard and soon you will reap all the rewards.

That "soon" did come and It came in the form of a rejection letter. Another rejection letter and it was dated only 2 days after the publisher received it. That was really fast for a publishing house right? How could they have made a decision that quickly? Has there been a mistake?

As those hot tears start to roll down your face, remember this: this is part of the process. Part of being a writer is being rejected. Part of the refining process. Just as the refining process filters out the imperfections in metal, rejection is something the majority of writers go through. In fact, most writers aren't accepted on the first attempt. Not even J.K. Rowling was immune to rejection.

Every writer had to start somewhere. We were all infant writers at one time. I'm sure if you talk to any of your favorite authors, they will admit their first drafts were terrible! The Great Wall of China wasn't built in a day. Neither was the Great American Novel. Take this opportunity to work on your craft, find your writing voice, refine your writing style and get rid of imperfections. Chet Cunningham was devastated when his first article was rejected. He picked himself up and said he was just going to keep on writing novels until he learned how. He has now written and published over 300 books. He is such a great example of endurance and tenacity!

So when you get that rejection letter, don't despair! You are one rejection letter closer to getting published! Let yourself feel down, rejected, a big fat loser… for a little bit. Then pick yourself up with renewed hope and vigor, learn from your mistakes, hone your skills, come back stronger and with more determination. Prove them wrong! Show them you are a GREAT writer. Someday it will be your time!

Motivation Monday

"When you think it is never going to change, press on a bit further, and that is when the tides change."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

In Good Company

What do Harrison Ford, The Beatles, and Michael Jordan all have in common?

They too, despite being wildly successful, have felt the heart wrenching pains of rejectionitis.  Harrison Ford, who played a whip toting adventurist, was told by a VP of Columbia Pictures that he would never make it as an actor!  The Beatles were rejected by a recording company because they "didn't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out." Michael Jordan was cut from his High School Basketball team and went home and cried.

But think about it; what would our world look like had they decided to just  abandon their dreams?  We would be left adventure-less without Indiana Jones.  We would have no idea how songs could soothe our souls without songs like "Let It Be" and "Yesterday". And we would never know how captivating it is to watch a grown man fly through the air and slam dunk a basketball with his tongue hanging out!

Even the literary world has its' fair share of rejectionitis sufferer's.  James Patterson, Madeline L'Engle, Meg Cabot, C.S. Lewis, Stephen King, and yes, even Dr. Suess have all been rejected at one time or another.  But here's the kicker, the side-note, the fail-safe antidote - they persevered.  They refused to give up.  They continued even when the literary statistics were stacked against them.

Do you feel like you're in good company yet?  Well then, grab a snuggie, a cup of hot cocoa, and curl up with these fellow rejectionitis patients.

John Grisham was rejected by 12 publishers and 16 agents before going on to sell well over 250 million books.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times!

Judy Blume received nothing but rejections for 2 years!  See her story at Judy Blume Rejection.

Even Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell was rejected 38 times!

We can look at these examples and say, "Yah, but that's John Frickin' Grisham, and Judy Blume for crying out loud!" but really, who's to say that in five years from now new, struggling authors won't look to us and say, "Wow!  Did you read that story about (insert your name here), she/he never gave up and now look they are a NY Times Best Selling Author!"

Come on!  The Newbery, Caldecott, and Hugo Awards are all out there waiting to be won - you just have to keep writing!

Motivation Monday

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
- Confucius

R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N P-A-R-T-Y

I promise I was not yelling with the all caps - I was merely trying to make sure you understood me correctly!  Yes, I said Rejection Party.

Rejection Party?

Oh, I see - you're one of those.  The one's that looked at Erika and I like we were half way in the front door of a looney farm, and who asked, "You're having a what?!?!?!"

A Rejection Party.

So we've talked about how rejection gets everyone down and how everyone gets rejected at some point while trying to become a published author.  So - now what are you going to do about it?

Throw a party!

Before I get to the fun pictures, I need you to know why we had a party.  Because nothing gets you more motivated  than knowing you are in good company!  Everyone is rejected at some point and so that's what we asked our friends to do - to share an inspiring story of someone else's failures.  (or their own) And it was amazing!  Our friends brought amazing stories about everyone from Thomas Edison to Michael Jordan and even Dr. Seuss!  I can honestly say that it helped me understand that the true key to being published is one thing....

Perseverance.

So now to the fun stuff...

We started out with fun evites asking our friends to "Help Celebrate our Spinning Success of Rejection"!  (Why not poke fun at yourself!) 

It was a party after all so we included various "rejected" foods - like Emeril's BAM-less wings and Cruella Deville's Heavenly Deviled Eggs.  We also framed some of our rejection letters for everyone to see.  (Proof that we could have the party!)

More food!

Poor Betty Crocker's cake was rejected as well!

At the party we unveiled our newest project - OUR BLOG!  We gave everyone a little "business card" so they could find our blog!

This is our adorable friend Tami, who was so excited to be the 1st follower of our blog!  (I was forced to document this as she was immediately upset that when our second follower was added her picture was moved down - so Tami was our 1st follower!!! Thanks Tami!)

Not to be out done by Tami was Tonya who was our second follower (who bumped Tami's picture down to the bottom of the follower's list) Thanks Tonya!

And this is our cozy little group of friends who supported us through our first rejection party!  And yes, there will be more!!

And this is Erika and I after the party - fully content with our rejections!! 

Rejection is a state of mind!

Nestled somewhere between California and South Dakota is a state we've all heard of, we've all experienced, we've all dealt with - the state of mind.  Everyone's is different; mine is a loud, chaotic metropolis while yours may be a quiet, calm countryside.  Despite our states' differences, I have a feeling that for most of us the capital of our state is Rejection.

Rejection is such an ugly word, visible to me with miss-matching legwarmers, ratty clothes, and a hairy mole.  No one likes to be rejected, I certainly don't - but I have come to respect rejection, to understand rejection.  And here's why:

Let's say you are an aspiring author.  You mail off a manuscript and then one day it comes back in the mail with a "rejection letter".  Now before you mailed the manuscript were you a published author?  No.  And now that you have a "rejection letter", are you a published author?  No.  So what changed?

Your state of mind.  (Yes, that whole thing about seeing the glass as half full - it's back!!)

It all comes down to choices.  Like one of those awesome Choose Your Own Adventure books.  Turn to page REJECTION if you choose to rip the piece of paper up in frustration, curse the literary agent that sent it,  and give up on your dream. OR turn to page HOPE if you look at the paper as another step closer to realizing your dreams.  (Notice I didn't go into great detail about skipping off into the sunset, while your 2.5 kids frolic in a field of daisies - it's not easy to change your state of mind, but it's worth a try!)

So now's your chance to talk yourself up, to believe in yourself - to see things as a glass that is half full.  And if that still can't get you away from seeing rejection as something to mope about.....well then read tomorrow's blog!

Motivation Monday

"Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.  Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.  Try to be better than yourself."
- William Faulkner

You Can!

As I sat down to write the prefect, clever, zany, witty blog post my mind went completely blank. I struggled with what to write for days. I usually have tons of ideas and just not enough time to write.

Frustrated and angry with my extreme writers block, my inner critic started chiming in. You know the really bad one that questions your abilities as a writer. Can I really do this? Maybe I shouldn't be a writer! No one will want to read my silly stuff. Arrrgh!

In my utter despair, I remembered a poem by C. W. Longenecker:

You Can If You Think You Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You've got to think high to rise,
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

Sometimes WE are our own biggest obstacles. Change your attitude and change the world! We can do it! We can make lemonade! Someone told me in college that attitude determines altitude! We can do it, we just to need to think we can!

Happy writing!

Erika