It is what it is...

Thinking about Thursday


Like everyone else today, I am thinking about 2011. As I mentioned in my previous post 2010 was "less than stellar". Honestly, I am  uneasy about 2011. It is already not going to be the year I hoped for and it hasn't even started yet.

One of my mother's more annoying phrases is "It is what it is." This is her frustrating non-response to anything unpleasant. Recently, I saw an addition to this phrase that changed it completely for me.

It is what it is but it will be what you make it.

So, the question for today is:
What am I going to make it?

I have three basic goals for this year.

1. Find a critique group/ partner.
    I have to let someone with objectivity read my work. It is just time.

2. Attend a writing conference.
    I am aiming for DFWCON in February. 

3. Query.
    Even if it is just one email. Just to prove I can.

Hold me to these, please. I am a people-pleaser. I don't mind letting myself down, but if someone else is holding me accountable, I almost never let them down.

So, what you about you? What are you going to make 2011? 

Happy New Year!

Unsatisfying

2010 just wasn't my year...for anything. If you want an example of the sordid details, you can read my review of the summer here. But, basically, it was an unsatisfying year. --> I had the word "crappy", but put it into dictionary.com for a more civilized  word.

Unsatisfying is a perfect description.

Unsatisfying because I expected  more. Much, much more.

I knew the changes to my job would be challenging. I didn't expect them to be overwhelming to the point of (metaphoric) suffocation. 

I wanted to focus on my writing, but life, kids,my mother and other randomness pushed it aside.

And as I wrote earlier this month, I am still right here.

BUT WAIT!

Before you call me a therapist or click unfollow because "Wow, she is depressing."

I am confident it is going to get better.

I look at the possibilities before me for 2011 and I am beyond excited.

I have two manuscripts ready for the Great Expectations contest.
I am going to the DFW Writer's Workshop Conference.
and I may just quit my day job after reading this post by JM Tohline.

So, 2010 wasn't it for me. Not at all. But 2011 will be here in a few days. Bring it on!

Next Thursday, I will be listing my goals for 2011. Please drop by so you can hold me accountable later!

Thinking about ... Thursday

 Today, I am thinking about...
Where to begin?
I am pondering a complete rewrite of the opening scene in my entry for the Great Expectations Contest. Based on feedback from the last contest, I may have started at the wrong place. I love some of the lines in the scene as it is. I hate to lose the character interaction, but it is mostly back story presented through a cast (no, really, they are doing a theater production) of characters.

A judge suggested starting at the next scene and including the information from the first by using introspection. I am not real clear how to do that. 

I am also not sure I will have enough to time to completely rewrite it the way I think it should go. After all, it is the holidays!

So, that is what I am thinking about today. What about you? Have you ever moved your starting point and it worked out for the best? Can you give some suggestions on using introspection without it becoming a "telling, not showing" problem? What is on your mind about your writing?

Tell Me Your Story Tuesday

I want to hear your story!

As my blog title and URL state, I am a "writer in waiting" who is still "chasing someday".

I plan to venture into the world of querying and rejection this year.

That is where you come in. I love to read about other people's journey to publication.
Would you be interested in sharing your story with me?

If you are an already published author who would like to share your story and, of course, advertise your upcoming release or if you are a pre-published author walking through this journey with me, I would love put your story on "Tell Me Your Story Tuesday."

Please email me at the address in my profile.

I plan to start posting stories on Tuesdays in January 2011.

Changes and a look back

    Last January, when I wrote this post I hoped to be celebrating the changes brought on during 2010. Now, as 2011 creeps closer, I realize I got the changes. Just not the celebration.

     Back when no one read this but me, I wrote about my career. Even as  I toyed with the idea of chasing my dream to be an author, I worried it wasn't what I was meant to do.  I was snuggled into my comfort zone. Teaching wasn't as challenging and fulfilling as it had once been, but it was safe. I knew I could do it. I wasn't going to fail.

    I linked the previous post because I am still right there. All of those thoughts are with me daily. This year was not what I expected at all. Changes have been smacking me in the face.

     My position is being relocated. If I stay with teaching then next year I will be starting over on a new campus with new people... again. My comfort zone is being unraveled.

    This would be the time to make a solid, clean break.  Teaching will always be there. I can always go back. But, for the first time ever, the opportunity to write full time is a viable option. I don't know if I will always have the courage to try. I am not sure I have the courage now.

      I feel like I have climbed to the top of the high dive. I already know how to swim, but staring down at the water. I am too terrified to jump in.

NaNoWriMo Success!

What I like about you...

Or should I say, what they like about me.

I am new to the process of letting others read my work. For years ( and I mean YEARS) I was a closet writer. I used to tell my parents I was writing a letter to a friend or working on a school assignment when I was really filling spiral notebook after notebook with stories.


One of my goals for  this year was to enter a contest and receive feedback. I picked one at random from the RWA contest loop.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I wasn't prepared for the feedback. Even though it was administer in the most professional way possible. It still stung.

I am over the shock now. This weekend I went the through the judges' comments and made myself a word document with all the positive statements.

Here is what they liked about me:

• This has the potential to be a very interesting and exciting read.

• You did a lovely job with description .

• First let me start out by saying that your premise is inspired.

• I think you have a great premise, and with tweaking and getting it all together, you have a terrific shot at getting in front of an agent and/or editor and achieving your dreams. 

These are what I am holding onto as I revise and rewrite for the Great Expectations Contest. 

I am reminding myself this is a process and  if I am going to be successful, I must be willing to learn.