Writers Are Writing

Hard at work, I am shooting for a release date around April 15 for Soldier Sons Book 3: Battle At Bridgetown. Brad Flowers, who does my cover art, has already sent me a sketch (which I am VERY excited about).

 After writing all five books and now editing, revising and finishing each one—well, it's a lot of effort. Sometimes I would go as far to use the other W word; Work.

Oye.

As a young self-published author, suffice to say I'm not overrun by fans. I don't write to count my dozens of dollars. I write because I enjoy it. However, nit-picking over tiny details, running over the manuscript again and again in an effort to polish your book and present the best piece possible does start to feel like Work in a hurry. Then managing advertising campaigns and trying to market the work to reach out to new readers—that definitely feels like work. I did enough marketing and advertising in business classes in college and there's a reason I didn't do it as a career. 

Feeling a big dogged by this extensive process with somewhat little pay-off, I was telling my tale of woe to my work-out buddy, who I have mentioned in previous posts. Her response, as usual, adjusted my perspective.

It's about future, plans and expectations versus passion, she explained. If you are a “writer,” you are thinking of what you could be or should be. Naturally, this leaves a lot of room—too much room—to dwell on the things that you aren't. You are focused on the future and on things you want instead of what you are doing. All this, I realized, I was no doubt doing. 

Instead of focusing on the could's and should's and ego of being a “writer,” my friend advised me instead to focus on the here and the now; simply “writing.” By thinking of “writing,”—an action, something current, something immediate—I moved the frame to the here and now instead of the intangible future. By focusing on what you like and enjoy, she explained, the future will take care of itself. You'll be a “writer” as you are “writing.” 

 

The moral of the story is, don't focus on what you're not or what you should be. Focus on what you are doing and take enjoyment and pride in it. (Like getting an awesome new sketch of your upcoming book).

Stay tuned for excerpts from the new book and see what's coming up in Book 3: Battle At Bridgetown (hint; there's a battle). I've heard great things so far and I look forward to letting the new beast loose on new readers.