This tour is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Karin Rita Gastreich will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
1. Enjoy the journey.
Writing novels takes time. There’s no way to get around this, no magic wand that will spit out a full-length, polished novel inside of a few weeks.
True, we have fun challenges like NaNoWriMo that encourage us to complete 50,000 words in 30 days, but anyone who has participated in NaNoWriMo will tell you the work doesn’t end there. The “completed” novel must be revised, perhaps rewritten, often expanded, and certainly edited before it is truly finished.
For this reason, while it’s important to keep an eye on the prize, you need to enjoy every part of writing a novel, from beginning to middle to end. Don’t stress out if it feels like you’re taking forever to finish. The time you spend with your characters is precious. Believe or not, you’ll miss those characters when you’re done!
2. Develop a routine that works for you.
Discipline is important in writing, and everyone has a different approach when making time to write. Some authors keep journals, others compose on the computer. Some force themselves to put out a certain number of words per day, others ignore word counts but dedicate ‘sacred’ writing time as their schedule allows. While it’s good to look to other writers for ideas on how to organize your time, it’s very important that you identify a routine that fits your life style and your creative rhythm. Remember: the best way to write is your way to write.
3. Keep the day job.
The advent of self-publishing and other industry changes has made earning money from writing harder than ever. A recent study showed that median income for writers has dropped 30% in the last ten years. While we are all hoping the situation will change, for the time being there’s no sign that the market will become friendlier for those who peck away at a keyboard producing stories.
Everyone who loves writing should keep writing. But you also need to find something else you love and make it the career that keeps food on the table. Someday, with a lot of hard work and a little luck, you may be able to leave the day job and devote yourself full time to being a published author. Until then, cover your financial bases.
4. Success comes in many flavors.
Because the vast majority of writers do not make money off their work, it’s important to keep in mind that success does not boil down to income. The highest success you can have as a writer is to craft a wonderful story that resonates with your readers – whether they number in the 10s or the 10,000s. There’s also success in making friends through writing, and in balancing the writer’s journey with everything else needed to make life happy and fulfilling. Be aware that success is multi-dimensional, and learn to recognize and appreciate your successes as they come.
5. Have faith in your journey as a writer.
More than a job, writing is a vocation. If you feel compelled to write, follow that muse wherever it may lead. Some stories we write just for ourselves. Some are meant to be shared with a larger audience. It’s not always up to us to determine which is which.
When we put a story on the market, we allow readers to choose whether they want to be part of our journey or not. This is a scary moment, but also, I think, a place where a little bit of faith goes a long way.
If the time is ripe for your story to capture the imagination of thousands, then it will happen. If not, that’s okay too. Nothing will change the fact that you are a writer. The most important responsibility you have as an author is to use your gift and keep writing.
Across the Furma River, Taesara of Roenfyn is drawn out of seclusion and into an ever-more vicious game of intrigue and war. Subject to the schemes of a shrewd uncle and the mysterious ambitions of the wizards of Galia, Taesara struggles to assert her own destiny, even as she takes up arms to defend her daughter's inheritance.
In the climactic finale to The Silver Web trilogy, threads of love, honor, betrayal, and vengeance culminate in a violent conflict between powerful women, opposed to each other yet destined to shatter a thousand-year cycle of war.
"An enticing and elegant series finale, filled with magic and turmoil." -KIRKUS REVIEWS
Eolyn shifted in her seat. A thousand words stood poised upon her lips, of which only a handful could be chosen and delivered. Each conversation in the coming days had to be undertaken with great care, especially when it came to this mage.
“Why did Thelyn come for us, and not you?” she asked.
“I was needed to track down the magas still residing in the City,” Corey replied. “Besides, Thelyn was the better mage for that task.”
Mariel, she thought. He would not have had the heart to bind Mariel.
A small sign, perhaps, that Mage Corey could yet be counted among her friends.
“I understand you are to oversee their interrogation,” Eolyn said.
“It is true, my Lady Queen.”
“I have expressed my concerns about this to the King. He assures me that you and your mages will not be permitted to—”
“My Lady Queen, if there is one thing you have learned in the years of our friendship, it is that I will do whatever must be done in the moment at hand, and I will harden my heart to see it through.”
“That may be the case, Mage Corey. Yet I also know that words are your most effective tool. You have never resorted to violence to obtain what you require.”
Corey let her statement hang in the air.
Eolyn averted her gaze, suddenly aware of the icy tension in her hands.
I, too, am being interrogated.
“You did not bring a scribe,” she said quietly.
“What need have I for a scribe, my Lady Queen?” He softened his tone. “We are, as of yet, simply conversing.”
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/EolynChronicles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Eolyn-110814625640244/
Purchase link for EOLYN, Book One of THE SILVER WEB: http://www.amazon.com/Eolyn-Silver-Web-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01B8F4G50/
Purchase link for SWORD OF SHADOWS, Book Two of THE SILVER WEB: https://www.amazon.com/Sword-Shadows-Silver-Web-Book-ebook/dp/B01G5L1GEG/
Purchase link for DAUGHTER OF AITHNE, Book Three of THE SILVER WEB: https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Aithne-Silver-Web-Book-ebook/dp/B06WCZYRNW/
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ReplyDeletecongrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the guest post, thank you!
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