Kick Self-doubt into Touch

I had a lovely email from a lady called Nicola recently telling me that she liked one of my stories in Fiction Feast (always a lovely thing to read). It's great to have correspondence with people who have found my blog useful or inspirational and so I was pleased to hear how a recent assignment of hers has been deemed ready for publication. Despite this success, though, Nicola told me she had been hitting walls of self doubt and asked for some advice.

The odd thing was that while thinking about my reply I saw a Facebook post that was so inspirational in itself that I just had to ask the owner of that quote, Tim Bowler, if I could use it on my blog - to help others who are grappling with their gremlins.

Here it is:

I've always found self-doubt a strange nomadic creature: a kind of hobo who pitches his tent outside the back door and never quite moves on. Even when the muse turns up on time, he's whittling a stick nearby, yet I'm deeply fond of him and always have been. He may be a little unwashed and he certainly eats too much of my food, but he has virtues. He grounds me, challenges me, makes me fight for my story. So, welcome, friend, stay as long as you want. You make me stronger.

Although Tim is a Facebook Friend, I didn't know anything about him as a writer but his words were so powerful that I knew he must be good so I popped over to his website to find out more about him only to find this:

Tim has written twenty books for teenagers and won fifteen awards, including the prestigious Carnegie Medal. He has been described by the Sunday Telegraph as ‘the master of the psychological thriller’ and by the Independent as ‘one of the truly individual voices in British teenage fiction’. His books have sold over a million copies worldwide.

So now I'm a bit embarrassed that I didn't know who he was... Sorry Tim!

But your words have hopefully helped Nicola and they'll certainly help me next time self doubt creeps in.

And the Winner is...

Who is the winner of my rejection T-shirt? I bet you can hardly wait to find out! I have read all your comments from my post two weeks ago (if you missed it, you can read it here) and made my final decision.

In third place is Patsy, who said that she hadn't just got her share but other people's as well! (we don't need to feel too sorry for Patsy though, as since then she's had a lot of good luck).

In second place is Nicola, who gave an extremely strong case for winning with a favourite story that did the rounds but still failed to hit the mark. Since then, she's said that she's not going to waste her energy moping but is putting it to good use writing her novel.

So here it is... in first place is Claire. Claire has written stories, poetry, readers letters and articles but she hasn't collected a heap of rejections like the rest of us. Why? Because she hasn't had the courage to send them. In a way Claire has rejected her own work and that is so sad.

So congratulations Claire - you are a winner after all and that is because you pressed the submit button on my blog! I hope that this T-shirt will be a reminder that we all (published and unpublished) get our share of rejection from time to time but that rejection is a sign that we have been courageous enough to submit our work.

Claire is a young writer and I'm sure you will all want to give her the encouragement she needs to send out her writing... then, one day, she might have the chance to win again.

Rejected? Don't be Sad, Don't be Mad... Be a Winner!

Why be miserable when you can turn adversity into a win! Just tell me why you should be the winner of my rejection T-shirt this month and you can wear it with pride. (I know it's only a virtual T-shirt but who cares - you can put it pride of place on your blog or show it off on Facebook!)

***

Okay - so I am going to have to ask Tracy for the Rejection T-shirt back again (not that she needs it as she's a very successful lady) after the lovely postman delivered two rejections from FF onto my doorstep on consecutive days, proving that it's 'that time of the month again' if you'll excuse the expression. The big clear out.

Now I'm always happy to share my successes with you on my blog but it's important for new writers to see that even those whose names appear often in magazines and competition wins, or even have a book to their name, have to suffer their fair share of rejection.

I take comfort in the fact that I know that I'm not the only one: magazine buddies Patsy, Viv and even the formidable Jo Styles have had their share this week - so if you are one of the unlucky ones, you are in good company.

It's hard to pick yourself up and carry on when you see the rejections piling up (whether its on your doorstep or that dreaded email from Maureen) especially if you are a new writer and of course I'm not just talking about magazine rejections - what about those competition entries that come to nothing.

Julie Philips has written a good article about what to do if you've had a lot of rejection recently so have a look at it, but not... I say not... before you have entered my competition.

Let's make rejection fun - tell me your sob story now... then we can all feel better about our own!

Why Everyone Needs a Writing Buddy

You know how it is when someone asks what you do and, when you tell them, you get a variation on these answers:

"Have you written a novel yet?"
"How much money do you make?"
"I suppose you'll be writing your own Fifty Shades then."

That's people you don't know.

Your friends might ask a few polite questions such as, "So how's the writing going?" but if you answer more than, "Fine," you can see their eyes start to glaze over.

Of course I can't blame them. If I ask my husband how his day has been, I'm more interested in whether Nigel has seen the badger in his garden again or whether Tom has managed to sell his house yet than whether the new flow meter is working properly. I have to remember that not everyone is interested in writing in the same way that not everyone is interested in engineering.

This is why we all need a writing buddy. I'm not talking about someone who will share and critique your work (although many writing buddies like to do this) but someone who knows where you're coming from; who understands the joys of a sale or competition win along with the frustration of the rejection; who you can share writing news and information with you and talk about all those things that would bore other people silly.

I'm lucky in that I've got Tracy. We met first through our blogs and then in 'real life' a year ago for teacakes in our local café. We've met up every month since for writerly chat.

This morning we talked about our last month's writing goals and whether we've achieved them, the merits (or not) of writing holidays, writers on Facebook, competitions, loss of writing confidence, experiences of womags, merits (or not) of Scrivener, whether it's possible to write a novel without a plan......
 
We also set new targets for this month.

The two hours we spend in the café are invaluable... and the teacakes delicious!

I urge everyone to get themselves a writing buddy if they haven't already got one.

2013 Writing Round Up

Here is a short round up of my writing this year.

Acceptances:

Short stories: 32  * update 33

                       The People's Friend (17)  * update (18)
                       Take a Break Fiction Feast (11)
                       Woman's Weekly (4)

Serial:            The People's Friend

Articles:
                       Writing Magazine (2)
                       The People's Friend (1)
                       Towpath Talk (1)

Publications:

Short stories: 27

                       The People's Friend (12)
                       Take a Break Fiction Feast (11)
                       Woman's Weekly (4)

Articles:           Writing Magazine (1)



Submissions still out there: (A few of these may have been rejected by a magazine and re-submitted)

Short stories: 28

Rejections: Taken as those stories rejected by all three womags and put away!

Short stories: 5

All in all, this has been a very good year for me with sales tripled since last year. I am also thrilled that I have managed to achieve my goal of 2013 which was to write and sell an article and a serial. In a way, this makes it harder for the coming year as I need to keep up the momentum which might be hard. Also I need a new writing goal (which I shall mull over with Tracy over teacakes).

But most of all, I have been overwhelmed by the support for my blog this year and for all my wonderful commenters. Thank you all very much, I really appreciate it... it's what makes this writing malarkey so enjoyable.

There is now nothing let but to wish you all a very happy and successful new year.

The Wait is Finally Over

I was talking to my writing friend, Tracy, from The Literary Pig, last week and we were discussing the pros and cons of posting about your successes on your blog. I was worried because I've been going through a good patch recently (not a worry in itself of course) but it has created a problem for me.

On the one hand, I've wanted to share any good news with all the people who have supported me since I started my blog last year and prove that success can be had, but on the other hand, I realise it might be annoying to some of you, especially if you are in the middle a bad period (which I hope you're not).

My problem is that there is only so much your husband, partner, family or friends want to hear about your writing and when you're fit to burst with excitement over an acceptance, who do you turn to? Well, in my case it's you... as we are all striving for the same thing - to make a success of our writing.

Tracy was very sensible and said that as long as you also post about the disappointing times as well, nobody should begrudge you your yippee moments.

I've thought back to the posts where I've been in rejection city after several 'not suitable for this magazine' letters have dropped on the door mat or 'well worn theme' messages have popped up on an email in one day. I am also the inventor of 'The Rejection T-shirt' which I have worn many times and which some of you like to borrow from time to time. I really have worked for my good news... honest!

With that in mind, I am going to believe Tracy and tell you some more exciting news (turn away now if you don't want to read about it). My first serial for The People's Friend has at last (after a nail-biting wait) been given the go ahead. I don't want to say too much about it at this stage, only that it will be a short three part serial. I loved writing the first instalment and can't wait to get stuck into the rest.

If any of you are thinking of having a try at writing a serial, Cara Cooper has written a fantastic series of posts on how to go about it, on her blog... they certainly helped me, so thanks Cara.

Also, this week, I share magazine space with Eastender Dot Cotton as my story 'Crossing the Line' is in Woman's Weekly. It is another short twist in the tail. When I wrote it, I started from the ending and worked backwards. I shan't be doing an 'inspiration behind the story' for it as I have no idea what the inspiration was... except to get another story into that magazine!

I'd be interested to hear your views on this topic - go on, I won't be offended.

Two Rants and a Rage

• To the person who drove right up my bumper flashing their lights: Yes, I did see you when I pulled out of the side road (it would have been a safe distance if you hadn't been speeding). I also saw you when you carried on tailing me and flashing your lights. Strangely enough, I was still aware that you were annoyed when you over took me blaring your horn... I hope you, and your road rage, enjoyed your day.

• To the dog owners who saw me put my dog on a lead and move off the path away from you and still allowed your four dogs to charge down the hill at Bonnie: What part of my non-verbal and verbal communication did you not understand?

• To the postman who flinched at the glare I gave him as he handed over three stuffed envelopes with my handwriting on: Sorry, Mate... you should know that it is traditional to shoot the messenger.

Yes, dear readers... today I shall be wearing this.

 

Don't Feel Rejected!

Well, my guest post in Womagwriter's blog this week has certainly caused a bit of a stir as it coincided with rather a large spring clean of stories from a couple of the major magazines.

As everyone is aware, this is part and parcel of what we do - we take the rough with the smooth, take it on the chin, have a stiff upper lip - or do we?

The nice thing is that this has encouraged other writers to talk about their experience of rejections and this results in us feeling less alone! Thank you Helen Yendall at Blog About Writing for mentioning my post and keeping the discussion going.

It is easy for us to feel rejected (and dejected when that dreaded envelope drops through the door or the mail box pings on the computer) but spare a thought for the poor fiction editors who are inundated with literally hundreds of stories each week. Sometimes we have to remember that they have a difficult job to do as well. There was a plea this week from Jill Finlay of The Weekly News on Womagwriter's blog, which can be read here, asking for no new submissions for two months as she had such a back log and is the only reader.

For everyone in the reject club this week, Simon Whaley at Simon Says!  talks about an article by Glynis Scrivens in this month's Writers Forum magazine called 'Turning a No into a Yes'. In it she talks about how other writers have turned rejections into acceptances - I'm off to buy it now!

Finally many thanks to those lovely people who have commented on or re posted my guest post, including Linda Lewis and to cheer you all up you must... I said MUST watch this youtube clip. It will bring a smile to your face and then you can get back to writing another story!