Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Patience Does Pay Off : an #IWSG Post




October marks the one year anniversary of the  Insecure Writer's Support Group website. A big thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and the wonderful administrators who keep the site running! Since today is the first Wednesday of the moths, it's time to share insecurities or encouraging words. Learn more about the group here.



Those nasty insecurities of mine popped into my head quite often over the last couple months. Will I ever finish the first draft of my work-in-progress? Will my publisher pick up the third book in my series? Will more readers find my published novels? Will the novel out on submission find a good home?

It's the things I can't control that drive me crazy. Thankfully, I could control one of the items in that list. Several deep breaths and self-prep talks (and okay, a little lot of whining) helped to keep my butt in chair and my fingers on the keyboard.

I'm happy to say that patience (or more accurately--me being forced to be patient) paid off. I finished that first draft. Omnific Publishing snatch up book three. Readers are finding my published novels. And, as for the last item in my list, I'm hopeful that answer will be yes, because I'm dying to share that book with readers everywhere.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Alex and the members of IWSG for their encouraging words and for sharing their stories and advice over the years. It nice to know I have a place to turn to when I need a little push.

How'd you do last month? Have you added to your word count? Any good news to share?


(P.S. There's a couple giveaways going on this week. Page down to earlier posts for details.)

25 comments:

  1. I am glad you have managed to conquer some of those insecurities and get that ms accepted by the publisher. Great job, Cherie :)

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    1. Thanks. :) Just getting the ms accepted was a big one. Even though it's the 3rd in this series they could have said no thanks or something else could have stop it from happening.

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  2. Wow congrats on all you have achieved and conquered!! It is so good to read and quite motivating :)

    Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.

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    1. Thanks, Chene. I'm looking forward to the months to come.

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  3. Not too many words written last month. Too many other personal life issues to deal with. I'm hoping October is a better month for me.

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    1. I've been there. Here's to more writing time in October. =)

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  4. Awesome they snatched up the third book!
    And awesome to hear the IWSG has made a difference.

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    1. It has been very helpful. I'm glad I found the group.

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  5. I'm all about the deep breaths (and the whining!) Big time congratulations on signing with Omnific for book #3! Do you anticipate this being a trilogy or a longer series?

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    1. I have ideas for other books. Since each book is standalone, I might just write another. =)

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  6. I forced myself to cut, cut, cut everything that wasn't critical to forward movement in my first three chapters, and now, believe they flow! And, I made myself dig in and write two paragraphs the book needs, but that I was afraid to write. That is my good news!

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  7. That's always the tricky bit with writing. Things don't happen instantly, when it feels like they should happen at the speed of inspiration.

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    1. Everything in the publishing world is slow. It's torture for those of us who like things to happen quickly.

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    1. I'm relieved and happy and excited to know that that third book will be our next years.

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  9. Great point about concentrating on the one thing you can control and keep on writing.

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    1. It does help to keep me sane. Thanks for commenting. =)

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  10. I'm thankful that it did. Now I just have to keep myself busy so I don't think of everything else. :)

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  11. Hi Cherie! I enjoyed your post, and congratulations on all you've accomplished as an author! Awesome, you give hope to me who is much further behind in the process. I'm so glad that I found the IWSG ~ what a great place to get that encouraging push! Happy writing!

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    1. Welcome to the group, and I"m glad my post gives you hope. Persistence and always working on your craft will pay off.

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  12. I think anxiety is a great writing motivator---for me, it's makes me want to escape into a different reality. Congrats on all your accomplishments. Champagne all around!

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    1. Writing does allow me to escape the everyday. =) Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.

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  13. Hi Cherie! It's so great to meet you! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment for IWSG—sorry it has taken me so long to visit you back!

    Congrats on all you've accomplished this past month! Your Embrace series looks amazing—I'm adding them to my TBR pile on Goodreads. Oh, and I'm also your newest follower. :)

    ~Kristin Smith
    IWSG co-host
    http://swordsandstilettos.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi Kristin! Thanks for hopping over and following! And for adding my books to your TBR list. =)

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