A Taste of Success

Woohoo! Got a special mention in a recent contest for a bizarre Easter story in which you had to replace swearing and insults with pastry or chocolate names:

https://crazycatstheatre.wixsite.com/ccats/easter-competition-2023

The judges said they were “very impressed with the quality” of my writing. 

True, not impressed enough to give me a win, but as recognition for something I wrote in an hour, I’ll take it. This is how it works. You write, you submit, you rewrite, you submit some more, and something shakes loose eventually if you’re any good at all.

Perhaps even more important to me, my husband has read a couple of my stories and fed back that he thinks I’m a good writer. Nothing like getting praise close to home from someone who is generally sparing with it.

So, I’m counting this week as a good one, despite still not having done my US taxes. Amazing how just a bit of success can make it all seem worthwhile.

Seeking Help

Writing is a somewhat lonely profession, and plagued with self-doubt thanks to a lack of consistent feedback. So there’s nothing to be ashamed of in asking for help.

Mind you, that’s true in most walks of life. As a past knowledge manager, it has firmly been my belief that we all work better if we share knowledge with each other. Hoarding it for personal gain is not a path to happiness or success. Even those who get paid to share their experience tend to give away a lot for free, and it’s unfettered access that is worth the price.

So yesterday I took out a membership in Jericho Writers and bought a manuscript assessment from them. They will give me an expert opinion on how to improve my book and get it published, something I very much need at this point.

I have spent the last couple of weeks looking at self publishing and the amount of work required. It is faster, and probably more lucrative, if I’m willing to devote myself to the marketing, so it has a lot going for it, and I may still end up going that way, since marketing is required either way.

But at the same time, I really want this to be a team effort, where I can learn from an agent and/or a publisher how to make my work the best it can be.

We’ll see how it goes. I only know that I’m sleeping better after having taken this step to invest in myself and ask for help. And when it comes down to it, a better night’s sleep is a pretty sweet payoff all by itself.