New Words to Live (and Write) By.

~When you give up, and when you quit you are letting the haters win.~

~The road to success is made of many small steps, rather than one giant leap.~

~One word at a time…One word at a time…One word at a time…~

~Writer’s block is the result of under-confidence, rather than not having anything to write about. Take a break, and write a list of top 10 things you can do, or the achievements you are most proud of…If you come up with ten (or more!) Start writing again.~

~Don’t let anybody tell you “You can’t…” they’re probably only saying that because they can’t.~

~To paragraph John Lennon, “(Writing) is everybody’s business…it’s only the publishers that think THEY own it.” ~

~Don’t let anybody tell you “But no one wants to read about ____________.” How do they know? People tend to make grandiose statements, and speak for everyone else when they really only should speak for themselves. Nobody should ever speak for all of the readers in the world–people’s tastes vary when it comes to art. Tell your own story the way you want to tell it. Be true to yourself and to your artistic abilities.~

~Surround yourself with positive people. Let them lift you up. Listen to only positive thinkers. The “Negative Nellies” will drag you down if you let them.~

~Chose your mentors wisely. Foolish people will claim themselves as experts even if they’ve only done one thing right their whole life. The internet is full of “self-proclaimed experts” and less than 25% of them actually know what they’re talking about and/or are worth listening to. (there’s a whole separate blog post on this topic next week). What may work well for some may not be the right path for you. Look at the most successful people, take ONE thing they have done and try that out…Talk to educators (real educators) in the field, and get feedback ONLY from people you trust and respect. Again, chose your mentors wisely. ~

~Time is valuable. Take any spare moment you have and WRITE.~

~Read every day. Read mostly in your own genre, but read anything that interests you. Read non-fiction as well as fiction. Read good books, and even skim through bad books. Be a critical thinker and reader. What you like and don’t like about the work of others can help you make critical decisions about your own works, your own storytelling, and style.~

~CONFIDENCE is about more than reading a bad book and saying “I can write a better book than that.” CONFIDENCE is reading a great book, and saying “I can write a book as good or better than this one!”~

~Don’t pigeonhole yourself. We tend to do that with genre, and even with style. So many authors (and soon-to-be authors) go around saying “I only write paranormal romance,” or “I only write literary fiction,” when we should feel free to expand. If your muse is guiding you toward horror, don’t ignore it. If there’s a poem on your heart, write it down. If you don’t want to be known for doing “XYZ thing” then use a pen name, but by all means free that creativity! Maybe you can incorporate it into your own writing somehow, or do a side project…or write some stuff just to write it, without publication. Do not ignore your muse.~

~Formula fiction is a lot like filling out “Mad Libs.” I avoid it at all cost.~

~ The market is fickle. A few years ago we were mesmerized by a boy wizard, then it was vampire love stories, and now the trend is distopia… But epic fantasy has never really gone away, nor has romance, or mystery. As I’ve said before, don’t chase trends, don’t write for the market. Write what YOU want to write, and your books will be more likely to stand the test of time.~

~Feedback is vital, but don’t let your manuscript dwell in the “feedback basement.” That’s when you’re so afraid (or insecure) about your current project that you are trapped in the feedback/revise/feedback/revise/feedback/revise treadmill. At some point, your story is good enough and publish/submit worthy. Have the confidence and knowledge to know (yourself) when that is without relying on someone to TELL YOU when that is.~

V. I Will Live This Day As If It Is My Last. (part I)

I will live this day as if it is my last.
I will finish this book/this chapter/this rewrite today rather than postpone it for tomorrow.

In short, I will do today’s work TODAY.
Tomorrow’s work belongs to tomorrow.

No longer will I procrastinate, especially with my writing.

Procrastination is another bad habit of mine that I have no choice but to break if I even hope to gain success.

“I will form good habits and become their slaves.”

You never know what tomorrow may bring…
You could wake up in the morning, and be too sick to work on your current project(s).
A storm could knock the power out, and you’d be relying on very little battery juice left in your laptop/tablet/phone.
The internet could be down…
Any number of things could happen that would interfere with your writing/productivity time.

Therefore, we must do what we can to take advantage of every spare moment we have TODAY. Carpe Diem!

Carpe Diem! Gather ye Rosebuds While Ye May!

Take advantage of every spare moment that you have today! Every moment of peace and quiet is writing time, productivity time, and study time. Every uninterrupted second I will put toward work, and work joyfully.

I will treat each day in this matter.

For tomorrow is it’s own new day, and will be full of its own work and accomplishments.

Seize the Day! Live each day as if it is your last.

II. I Will Greet Each Day With Love in my Heart.

Why do I write?
More specifically why do I pursuit a career in writing fiction?

Am I in it to get rich and famous? Maybe even be dubbed the next J.K. Rowling? Nice dreams…but no. That is not why I write.

Quite simply, I write because I love it. I love to write, and am in love with the whole process of writing and publishing from beginning to end. It is my passion.

A very wise woman who I respect, and fellow writer and poet once told me “You have to love what you do for a living…”
And she is right. I’ve had a lot of unpleasant jobs with bad career decisions, and have learned to steer clear of those. A day job (especially for a writer) is a necessity, but the more pleasant a day job you have the better off you are.
I like retail, and have really enjoyed retail loss prevention…
But more than that, I love writing.

As I focus now (more so than ever) on making writing my full time career, I am writing with a new fervor each day for minimum 2 hours…and before I know it those 2 hours have become 4…then 5.

I Start each day doing something that I love.

And, it has changed my attitude and outlook for the better.
Suddenly, I don’t mind the rest of my tasks so much.

Dishes, laundry, even Algebra homework.

And when I’m all done with my other daily tasks, I just might find time to write again.

Start every day with love in your heart.
Do something that you love,
Spend time with someone that you love…

And the rest of the day will seem that much brighter.

~K. Crumley

I. Today I Begin a New Life.

“Failure will no longer be my payment for struggle.”
Here starts the first of my blog posts inspired by one of my favorite books, The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino.

If you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend it…

I’ve really felt the need to re-read this book, considering that my writing career has been on a downward spiral due to procrastination, lack of confidence, and paralyzing insecurities. Let alone the lack of marketing (which I think correlates to my lack of confidence, as well as my lack of money.)

Sometimes you just need to start fresh.

This is that time for me.
Do things differently–do things better. Put my days of mediocrity behind me; start anew.

It’s never too late to start fresh.

It’s not–and never shall be–too late to revive and resurrect my writing career. It’s never too late to breathe new life into old stories, long neglected and half-written on my laptop’s hard drive and on my flash drives. It’s never too late to do things better the next time, with the next book and the book(s) after that. Nor is it too late to set new goals, and work toward achieving them.

I will start by forming good habits and becoming their slaves as the first scroll instructs.

For example, getting up each morning and writing at least 2,000 words. I will make that part of my daily agenda, and will no longer slack off in doing so.

Also, I have already formed a good habit of reading each night; craft books in addition to books in my genre of Fantasy.

This is my pledge to myself, and to my writing.

I challenge you all to do the same…make a new good habit, and stick to it. Whatever that habit may be…And whatever goals you may have in your life, I wish you all luck in reaching them.

I hope you continue to read the rest of the blog posts in this series, and appreciate those of you that follow this blog.

~K. Crumley

What a stupid question…

You know, I really hate when people say “are you working hard or hardly working?” It’s not funny…it’s almost insulting. It’s like people want to hear you say you’re doing bad…so they can feel better about how they are doing. And, they use that cliché little jibe to cover their true intentions.
Alright, alright. I know it’s really an old joke, and maybe my recent job situation has just made me oversensitive. But, I have always hated that expression, and never found it amusing.
However, I have the perfect comeback…sad to say, it is actually true.
So, from now on when people ask me “Hey, Karen! Are you working hard or hardly working?”
My retort will be,
“Hm. Let’s see…I’ve got two novellas nearly completed; each part of two different fantasy series. I also have a poetry anthology to be released, a new short story, and a Young Readers adventure series on the back burner. I also just started a new epic fantasy series for NaNoWriMo…all while working a new full-time retail loss prevention job, and going to school online for Web Design. *deep breath*
Does that answer your question…?”

But maybe the late, great Donna Summers said it best…

Writing is hard work, especially working on multiple projects at once.
My day job is mentally and physically exhausting. Plus, going to school online…?
I just wish the world would slow down a little bit…

I also wish that people wouldn’t ask such a stupid, unfunny question.

Playing Hardball with Myself: Writing and Self-discipline

I need to re-dedicate myself to my writing, and my writing related goals. To do this, I need to discipline myself. It can be hard with my new job, new class schedule, and other demands that accompany the holiday season. Still, I have to make every effort to get myself to where I need to be right now with current projects (there are many), New releases (hopefully soon), and (hopefully) sales.

I am at a time and place right now in my life which is perfect for me to set my sights on new goals, dedicate more time to writing, and focus on the publishing process from beginning to end. However, I lack self-discipline.

I have realized there comes a time to play hard-ball, and make myself stick to a solid writing schedule as well as new release dates. Now those release dates can be flexible…but not to the point where I’m letting a whole year (or years) slip by as I have done in the recent past. I have to stick to some kind of “grace period” of no longer than 3-4 months from my intended release date(s).

I’ll be posting release dates soon, as I work out the schedule and details.

For those of you patiently for Charmed Lives (sequel to Wishful Thinking), I assure you I will be working to make the next 3 titles available ASAP. And, I appreciate you as readers.

~K. Crumley

It’s a little like Flashdance… (video post)

I can’t help but think of the indie author (or even the hybrid author) movement is a little like one of my favorite movies from my teens.

We are a lot like the girl who (like me) took ballet lessons in the basement of a church, or in someone’s home dance studio…Maybe like Alex, in Flash dance we even learned by reading books on writing, by listening to podcasts, or taking a course. Even participating in workshops and critique groups both online and offline.

Yet, we walk down the proverbial hall in our jeans and army jacket and are frowned upon by those classically trained ballerinas dressed in pink. (You know…the trad pubbed die hards, the elitist snobs, the ones who favor the old gate-keeping methods and think all indies suck.)

You don’t need to have an MBA in English lit to submit your work to an publisher or agent; and you don’t even need an MBA to self-publish (although a lot of people may imply that you should.) It’s very similar to the dance world.

So we practice our craft, tweak our writing, develop our voices. Just as dancers, warming up, stretching each limb, perfecting their technique. We go through all that we can do to make our work perfect. Pay for editing, pay for cover art, etc…

We walk down the hall scoffed at by the prima ballerinas, and soon are out there in front of the new “gatekeepers” of this world, to show them what we got.

And, then despite their sitting at that table looking doubtful, one of us breaks out and does something a little like this…

That’s why you shouldn’t scoff indie & hybrid publishing endeavors. That’s why you shouldn’t count us out. The book by the next Alex could be right around the bin. I am aiming for Alex-like success via the hybrid path. And, I intend to work like a maniac to get it.

~K. Crumley

Writing ADHD (part 1)

I think I have a rare condition known as writers ADHD. Or, simply put “too many good story ideas, to little time.” I tend to have difficulty staying on one project at a time…I kind of bounce around a lot.

For instance, I will be working on something for a while, and then get revisited by the Muse, and have to write some new story ASAP while it’s still fresh in my head. For this reason, a lot of my stories wind up on the back burner…sometimes indefinitely.

I’m try to remedy this situation. What works best for me is to create a spreadsheet with charts for all my current projects.
Divide it up into 2-3 tiers, creating deadlines for “top tier” projects as well as (hopeful) release dates. I find putting that kind of pressure on myself keeps me focused. LOL

Second tier: Older first drafts I really should finish. This tier also includes all the first drafts that I finished and left on the “pre-revision back burner” for far too long…

Third tier: all those new idea brainstorms I have.

So now, I jot down those ideas I get struck by and label them as “future projects.” Then, I go back to my First-tier WIP’s.

Well, that’s just how I get myself off of this “too many projects” never ending treadmill. Feel free to share your own!

~K. Crumley

Disclaimer: This post is in no way meant to offend those who suffer from ADHD, or their families.

Being True To Yourself

Be true to yourself as a writer. Be true to your muse, your voice, and your spirit.
Don’t try to fit into someone else’s “box” or waste your time trying to emulate others…or worse yet, imitate them.
Yes, they say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” But, too much “flattery” and your writing won’t be your own. Your stories won’t be your own. Your voice will not be your own.

Tell the stories YOU want to tell, not what you see as being a big seller, or popular trend. Trends come and go…
And, who knows what comes next after this vampire trend ends. It just MIGHT be your story. And, even if it isn’t there’s always someone out there–or maybe several people out there–who aren’t chasing fads, but want something new, fresh, original, and above all else a GOOD STORY.
Focus on the art and craft of writing, get in touch with your Muse…
Don’t sell out your art, in pursuit of a “get rich quick” scheme.

Don’t focus on unreachable goals like becoming an overnight millionaire, or being dubbed “the next so-and-so.”
Set attainable goals, and reach them one at a time. Remember “you have to walk before you can run, and run before you can fly.”
You may not have “overnight success” but you will have some success, whether it being able to live fully off of your writing OR just some small personal goal that you’ve reached.

Take this all for what it’s worth.

Write with pride. Pride in yourself!

~K. Crumley

Jealous of Other Writers?

The question pops in my mind quite often, rather out of random though or from someone bringing up the subject in an online forum.

Am I jealous of other writers?
Am I jealous of the Amanda Hockings, JA Konraths, and HP Mallorys of this world? Am I jealous of the many indie authors around me, who press on and do well…and release book after book?

Hell yeah, I’m jealous. I’m jealous of MOST other writers in fact. But not for the reasons that you would assume.
I’m not jealous of their sales figures, per say.
I don’t envy the money they’ve earned in revenue.
I don’t envy fame, or being “well known” in certain literary circles.

I covet only one thing…TIME!

I freely, and without any shame admit that I am envious that other writers have more time to write than I do.

Recently I had to take a little vacation from writing, and even from this blog…TO MOVE. Yes, I am renting a nice little apartment (which I love) but all of the packing, moving, cleaning the new place, etc…has taken a significant amount of my (already limited) free time.
Then there is my job, where I work 40 plus hours a week.

I can hear the lectures now…
How I should make time to write. yeah, yeah. I’m getting to that in a bit.

Things will settle down. I’ll get all the rest of my stuff moved in, and have everything “finalized” and be all settled in.

I have a shorter commute to work (THANK HEAVEN) which allows for more writing time. I have no distractions from my parents, and this place is “no pets allowed” so I have no distractions that way (as pleasant as they may be at times). No duties to feed the dogs, take them out, etc. Oh yes, and no barking.

I intend to come up with a writing schedule, and stick to it. Probably in the morning, before work. After work I’m usually way too tired.

And, of course when inspiration strikes, I must write! Even if I just jot what’s in my mind on scratch paper, and type it into a word doc later…

I am sure that this envy will pass as I devote more time to writing and am no longer running around like a chicken with my head cut off. hahaha!

I look forward to getting all settled in at my new place, and just having more time to myself…and more time to write.

~K. Crumley