I'm honored to be a co-host for this month's IWSG blog hop. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this terrific group and all the people who help keep it going. You can find all the participants on this list. Try and visit some new folks today.
I'm sharing co-hosting duties with some terrific bloggers. Thank you, Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, and Lee Lowery.
This month's optional question: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?
I would say don't wait. If you have a story inside you that you want to share, write it. Don't wait until the kids are older and you have time. Don't wait until you take one more class or attend one more conference. Butt in chair and write. Right now.
I'd like to thank the bloggers who hosted me for my mini-tour to promote the release to Exile's Savage Lady. I also want to thank my faithful followers who stopped into to comment on my various stops. You guys are the best. If you missed any posts and would like to science up a little, here's the list.
The Whole Shebang What science subjects did I research for the Survivors of the Apocalypse Series?
Christine Rains What is minimal viable population for humans?
Write With Fey How a pandemic could end the world.
Paranormal Romantics Where would you want to spend the apocalypse?
Diane Burton The Domed City. Can it save mankind?
Let me close this post with some wisdom from The Old Farmer's Almanac.
If an average man never shaved, his beard would grow to be about thirty feet long in his lifetime.
A group of goldfinches is called a charm. (Lots of these pretty birds around my abode.)
Waste not fresh tears over old griefs. Euripedes.
Do you have some good advice to those starting out in the writing business? What's the longest beard you've ever seen? Are you dry where you are, or suffering like us with more rain this week?
63 comments:
Waiting is what hampers a lot of writers. The insecurity of thinking they are not good enough. Sorry to hear about the rain. Here in good old Germany, we've had the hottest summer ever. Yesterday was 99.1 degrees Fahrenheit. When you think that usually 25 degrees Celesius is the hottest it ever gets here, you can say the people are shocked. And the majority of the homes, approximately 99 percent of them have no AC including mine.
Thanks for co-hosting.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Congratulations on the release!
Thinking about it won't get the writing done, that's for sure.
Thanks for co-hosting today.
Thanks for co-hosting this month. Sorry to hear about all that rain, but it's good you made it through. I like your advice about not waiting. Congratulations on your release. My husbands family is from the mountains and there are lots of long beards out there.
YES! to this - "Butt in chair and write. Right now."
Love the Euripedes quote!
We are dry up here in Rochester, and I would love some rain to green the dead patches of my lawn back to life. This must be the summer of extremes with flooding on the east coast and fires on the west. Makes me worry about hurricane season.
I'm so sorry to hear your town got flooded. We had flash flood warning but not much real flooding.
Wow - that flooding was awful. Our July was super dry - we're in desperate need of rain. And some people believe there's no such thing as climate change!!
That hot without AC can be dangerous. Hope you cool off. Thanks for stopping by Pat.
Congratulations on your book release. Yes, waiting is just not good for us writers we must constantly write and write some more.
Congrats on the release! Very sound advice. There is never a "perfect" time to write, there is only today.
We've been hot an dry, but rain and cool temps came in over the weekend. So happy I'm not on either coast right now.
Congratulations on you new book! And, boy could we use some of your rain here in Texas. It is dry, dry, dry. And hot, hot, hot.
Yay for your new release Susan :) This year my neck of the woods has been hit with a heat wave, unseasonably so. We have had some rain but the continued heat is hard on my poor flowers and grass. Thank you for cohosting this month :)
Congratulations on your new book! I like your advise to not wait. I have two stories going, and I'm procrastinating more than waiting. Time to move forward! :-)
Thanks for co-hosting and thanks for the advice. I agree. If you have an idea, write it or you'll lose it. There is no perfect time to write something. Now is as perfect as it's going to get.
Imagine tripping over a 30-foot beard!
Great advice, and I totally agree. You've got to seize the moment. Write if you want your book written!
Thanks for co-hosting!
Try and you will succeed. Keep writing everyone. Thanks for hosting Susan!
Congratulations on your newest release, Susan. I'll go by and see some of those posts to find out more. The wisdom of those who have preceded us is always worthy of note. I'm jotting down the one you shared of Euripedes.
That's it in a nutshell. Write!
We've had more rain than usual here in GA this summer, too, but not nearly as much as you've had. Too bad we can't export some of our rain to the folks out west.
You're right about not waiting. I waited. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Oh well. Writing gives me something to do in my old age. :)
That is good advice, Susan. As soon as that book's ready, get it out! It's easy to let the fear of that unkn own process stop you, in my case, for decades.
You are so right about not waiting! I started writing later in life and now wish I'd started earlier.
Congrats on your new release, Susan!
We've had a dry July in western Washington State, but last April was the wettest on record. I wish you happy writing and kinder weather in August.
I agree with you about not waiting to get that story written!
Mother Nature sure sounds like she is on a revenge path to punish human kind for not treating her with respect! While it has been so wet in PA, it has been scorching dry in places like New Mexico in the spring and early summer. Even in my home country, Belgium, it has never been this dry, and it hasn't rained for months. Crazy!
Butt in chair, you got it! :-) Thanks for co-hosting this month!
You could send some rain to Michigan. We really need it. The grass is crunchy.
"Don't wait" - So true! We are getting some rain here in the Arizona desert, just not as much as I'd like at my house. Wishing you a dry spell ;-)
Absolutely - no time like the present. If you wait for that perfect moment, you'll be sitting for a loooooong time. I've written under the best and worst of times and quite honestly, the work I did under pressure was always my best because I was forced to concentrate on making every minute count (I started out with two pre-schoolers and now have a grandson who also understands "Grammy has to do some writing first." Just do it!!
Hope things dry out soon! You're right, you just have to get on with it. There's always going to be something else to make demands on our time.
Thanks for sharing those great research links, and for hosting this month's IWSG prompt. Happy writing to you. :)
Great advice, Susan! I feel like I've wasted too many years & excuses not writing. The time is NOW - whenever or wherever you may be in your life. It's never too late!
Thanks for co-hosting with me this month! I've enjoyed it so much!
We've been very dry, so the rain here is welcome. Love your advice! Everyone can find a few minutes to write here and there. A few words on the paper/screen a day is all it takes to build up to a story. :) Thanks for co-hosting this month.
It's pretty dry out here. There have only been a few quick bursts of showers. The heat seems to be unstoppable.
Butt in chair and write right now sure is the way. All we have here is heat with no rain, can switch for a while.
I tend to wait too much instead of jumping in and doing things. Time is running out!
I had a beard for a while, but I'm not a big fan of beards. My wife would not be happy if I decided to grow a beard.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Hey I wish you could've shared all that rain. West Michigan is practically in drought stage. And why do the heavy rains always go north and south of us? It's like we have an aura around us that scares away the rain drops. Congrats on your new release. Exciting to be a guest on writer's blogs. Fun to get to know each other when working the guest post out. I especially enjoy hosting authors. Thanks for co-hosting!!
JQ Rose
We could really use some of that rain out here where all the wildfires are. Thank you for co-hosting this month! And for the interesting advice :)
You have my sympathy on the flooding, i hope you do get to dry out for a while.
Thanks for co-hosting, Susan. I wish I'd followed your advice and started sooner. Who knows what I might have done? But we shouldn't look back, only straight ahead. I enjoyed having you visit both my blog and Paranormal Romantics. Best.
That's great advice. It's so easy to let writing slide onto the backburner because of everything else going on in our lives. Life is too short to wait to do what you love. Thanks for co-hosting, and I hope things dry out for you soon!
So sorry about all the floods. They are so frightening and cause such damage. Hope your state dries out. Good advice to get that story inside you out on papere.
Mega rain sounds scary and depressing. Hope you get some sunshine! Yeah, don't wait too long to write your story because you'll sure be waiting as you plow through the publishing process!
Butt in chair is the only way to get it written :)
Life does get in the way. I agree with Dolorah. Butt in chair is the motto for me, too. Great post. Thanks for co-hosting!
That was good advice you would give for someone if they feel they got something to write about to just sit down and start writing. We're in monsoon season here so when the rains come they come along with lots of thunder, wind, etc. Got a big storm Monday night that knocked out a lot of power (not ours but others around) and a lot of trees came down with the almost hurricane strength winds we had.
betty
Don't wait is excellent advice. I honestly couldn't think of any pitfalls to avoid (not that there aren't any, I just couldn't think what I'd say) but now that I'm reading other IWSG posts, I'm thinking, "Oh yeah, that one, too!" Thank you for co-hosting!
Yes, we need to just write the story, as it comes.
Love the advice!
Good advice, Susan. I suffer from this malady: I always try to write my stories in the order I started them, which sometimes leads to a huge writing block.
Congrats on the release. Happy belated IWSG.
Thanks for co-hosting this month! It's been raining all week by me. Great advice about not waiting. I try to write when I can. And when I'm not, sometimes my own kids, especially my youngest, will remind me that I have to write. Great support system right there when your family supports you and try to give you the uninterrupted writing time you need.
Congrats on the release.
Have always loved that Euripides quote.
And couldn't agree with you more about not waiting, especially since tomorrow is never a certainty for any of us. Might as well do what you love now.
Not suffering from too much rain where I am. Like your tip about not waiting to write. Good luck with your new release and Thanks for co-hosting this month!
I agree...write it now! My uncle probably had the longest beard I've seen in person. I refer to it as his ZZ Top beard, if that tells you anything. We're having more rain than we're accustomed to here in Colorado, but it's still not a wet summer, really. A thunderstorm rolls through each afternoon and maybe drops a little rain. Not enough to stop the wildfires, but it may be keeping some at bay!
I saw the groundhog picture. My first thought was'what an easy shot!'
They're varmints.
Teresa from Hershey and new to your website
My writing advice (as a very new writer):
Cashflow matters! That is, if you spend $500 on editing, $500 on a cover, and another $500 on formatting (ebook and trade paperback), then you have to sell enough books to pay all those costs before you've made a penny.
You get no guarantees so be careful how you spend.
Teresa From Hershey
That is some very solid advice, and I need to follow it. Stop holding my stories inside and let them flow, no matter how flawed they may seem at first, that's what editing is for.
Charm is such an appropriate term for a group of goldfinches, they are so pleasant to listen to :)
If I waited to write all my stories until they were ready, or I was ready, it would never happen. Awesome advice!
Oh, wow, I wish I knew the magic spell to send your overwhelming rain over here and extinguish the fires we're dealing with on the West Coast!
As for waiting, you're right don't wait to write, but my advice to new writers is to let your writing rest after your written it.
I agree with you about not waiting. I had wanted to be a writer since I was little, but I waited a long time. Then I realized that there never would be a "right" time, so I just started.
Thanks for co-hosting IWSG this month--and good luck with your new book~
Thanks for co-hosting the IWSG hop this month, Susan.
Many people are waiting for that perfect moment when the kids are older and they are more relaxed and have more time on their hands, etcetera.
There is no perfect time.
Start now. You are so right.
Susan, I have written to Alex too. My name has been removed from the membership of IWSG although I have followed all the rules. It's okay really, but I was just curious as to why. I have participated in two monthly challenges ever since I joined two months ago. Been commenting too.
I was hoping to participate in the 5th september challenge but no one has replied to me so far as to why my website was removed from the membership. Anyway, I apologise for asking again. I will not bother you again.
I have no advice at all. Once thinking (3 decades ago) that my writing would/could be submitted, I wrote with a goal in mind. Now, with migraine complications, I write for the joy of writing. Even so, I love to read about others' accomplishments.
Long time, no see, my friend.
I would say: rarely is a story lost. Have an old bad manuscript? That's okay. Don't chuck it. Let it sit for a while, maybe several years. Time and distance will give you objectivity (not total, but improved).
I'm busy dusting off the first two books I ever wrote. I cut 10k from book 1 and polished it till it shined. It's getting much better critiques this time. I think it's finally publish-ready. Woohoo!
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