Scary/Exciting/Big things

I've been doing a great deal of pondering lately. This should come as no surprise, of course. Every six months or so I go on a Quest of Pondering, Angst, and Re-Evaluation. (I'm telling you, if there was a contest for introspection I. WOULD. WIN.)

If I could have, I would have spent many an hour walking on picturesque lookouts, thinking deeply, my hair blowing in the wind. Like that scene on Pride and Prejudice, when Elizabeth is staring out over the cliff edge. Pondering.


Yeah . . .


I probably looked more like this, though.

At any rate, as I said, I've been through this before. What can I say, I'm a little slow. This time, however, I've come to some fairly scary and big thoughts. Thoughts about who I am as a writer. What I want. What I am and am not willing to do.

Probably the biggest thought is about what I will write. It's also the scariest. In a nutshell, I think I've found my voice.

And I think it will be a tough sell.

But I'm going to write the book anyway.

The thing is, I've had this feeling in my gut for a long time. I avoided it, because, to be totally honest, I want to be published. I really, really want to be published. So, I've pushed this inkling away to pursue ideas that seemed more marketable. (Don't get me wrong, I loved these ideas, but I can be honest as to why I picked them over others.)

But it's time to take a risk, folks. For me, anyway. So I plan to. There are going to be some changes around here. Because like I said, my pondering involved all aspects of my writing career, not just what idea to pick. So be ready, gentle blog readers. Be ready. More details coming soon.

Photoshop Friday

(Even though it's Tuesday.)

THE EVOLUTION OF AN IDEA, or An Argument for taking Internet Breaks.

So, there you are, brainstorming ideas for your Work-in-Progress. Or maybe you're just fixing yourself a turkey and avocado sandwich. At any rate, out of the blue, an idea strikes.


For a small, glorious window of time, this idea is the most Brilliant. Thing. Ever.


So you head to the internet to do some research. After spending a while on Wikipedia, Google Earth, and the like, you decide to peek over at Amazon to see of there are similar books.

Well you find them.


This leads you to the blogs of the authors of those books, doubtless with posts expressing their relief that they got their novel published before the trend DIED last week.


This leads you to scouring agent blogs and interviews, positive that SOMEONE still wants your idea. And this leads you to various writer forums, where they discuss various topics of decreasing relevance to the topic at hand. And before you know it, you've frittered away a depressing amount of time. Time that you could have been (but obviously weren't) WRITING. And you end up like this.


The lesson, gentle reader? I love me some internet, but it can be COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. Alas, it's a lesson I have to re-learn every few months. :)