So it’s Saturday and I spent several hours today writing, most likely I’ll be finishing To Do List by the end of the weekend so yay for that! Right now the kids are playing Sly on the PS2 and I’m sort of thinking about dinner. I need to deal with laundry, sigh – GLAMOROUS!! Wheee!

A quote I saw today and wanted to pass along:

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.
George Bernard Shaw

In other words, sit your ass down and write. Even if it’s five minutes every two days. Stop making excuses. Stop saying how you don’t have time, stop bemoaning other people who have all day to write or who have better deals than you. You will never be anyone but you, so deal with what YOU have instead of what you haven’t.

And while I’m at it, I’m just going to heave a tired sigh and say some authors need to stop showing their ass in public. Really truly. Your blog is public. Author loops are public, comments you make at blogs are public. Guess who is part of the public? Editors, your fellow authors, readers, reviewers and agents. So you got rejected. Doood, welcome to the club. Guess who else got rejected? EVERYONE.

Another quote:

Don’t fear making a mistake; fear failing to learn and move forward.
Pilip Humbert

You put yourself out there, you open yourself up and it’s difficult. People who don’t do it tend to pooh pooh how hard it is, but those who’ve done it understand. Those who survive? They know your skin better be thick and you have to want this more than anything because it’s not easy. It hurts. You feel intense hope and gutwrenching, abject fear and disappointment. Sometimes within hours of each other. There are times when you are sure you won’t make it. When the story you’re writing is drek, when you can’t pull off the edits, when you fear readers will hate the book you’re putting in front of them. And sometimes, the story you’re writing IS drek, sometimes those edits take longer than you thought and yep, sometimes readers don’t connect with what you tried to say. Writers who sell right away and never hit a bump are very rare. Yes, they exist but most of us have hit delays hard enough to consider quitting.

But do you want it? If so, how bad? You gotta work. No doubt about it. You have to write when you’re exhausted, when you just don’t want to write that damned story, when you hate your characters, when your kids’ teacher has a talk with you when you pick him up, when you’ve had a fight with your spouse or your best friend. You have to deal with people all around you getting deals when you get rejected and also, getting deals when your friends who are terrific writers don’t.

Pull up your big girl panties, stuff some chocolate in your gullet and write because if that’s what you want to be, that’s what you’ve got to do. When it works, it’s the best thing in the world.