I know I’ve said it before, but it’s really true. Friday, I started writing again. It is a completely new story, but I think it will be a good one. I’m about a 1000 words in. But, I have done some character development today. Laid out the heroine, who she is, her issues, where she wants to be, etc.
The hero is a little harder. I’ve never claimed to understand men or what makes them tick. Men say that about women, too. But, I’ve lived relationships with the opposite gender vicariously through books for more than a decade. I, personally, have no idea what it takes to attract and keep a man’s attention. I want the writing to be centered somewhat in reality. Okay, I know it’s romance fiction and I can do pretty much what I want. However, I want the character, flaws and all, to be believable. I also, don’t what may be a somewhat unfair take on the flaws to make him a jerk or someone no woman reading the story would ever believe a woman with any self-respect would ever fall for. It’s a dilemma. So, I’ll take a stab at creating the kind of man most women would want – sexy, successful, flawed, and, best of all, worth loving for a lifetime.
I was reading Kara Lennox’s blog dedicated to motivating writers today (and I assume others that read her blog.) Her advice to aspiring writers is that to be successful in this journey, you should surround yourself with others who have achieved and continue to achieve success. People with a positive outlook toward the outcome of their work and not those who allow critique partners, rejection letters, or the other people in their lives suck away the dream, energy and drive that started them on the journey in the first place. I think I have done that. I have made some really supportive friends in the last eight months. Some published, some not. Some through my RWA chapter and others through online networking. I have admired some of their work for a long time and some were recently discovered. Some write racy, some don’t. But, nobody says, “Give it up, you’re wasting your time and energy.” Thank goodness, because I question myself enough. I’m glad I found them all. Two in particular, they know who they are, are wonderful, funny, and great writers to boot.
I digress, back to Kara’s blog. She didn’t make it just about writing, she associated it to everything in life. Her best advice?
“Your level of success mirrors that of the people around you. So if you hang out with really successful people, you rise to the top with them. And if you hang out with losers, you sink, too.”
If you hang with whiners and complainers doing nothing to change their lot in life, maybe you should get some new friends.
My friends are not whiners and complainers (mostly J.) They are go-getters that make things happen for themselves. I am both proud and envious at the same time, but love them all. My day job friends that know about my dream of writing support me but aren’t writers themselves. It’s hard for them to relate to self-doubts about my ability create stories that anyone else, except a really good friend who wouldn’t tell you the truth for fear of hurting your feelings, would want to read. They know what I’ve done to have the modicum of success I’ve had there, but they’ve experienced most of the same challenges and know what it took to achieve the level of success I’ve had. The friends I have from my day job understand the stresses of that job, and pretty much know all about my personal trials and tribulations, but the friends I have made that are writers understand how the day job, family, and life in general try to do everything in their power to derail you - and will if you let them.
Writing is a whole new path for me. One I’ve always had the urge to do, but didn’t really have the guts to put myself out there and actually follow through with. I don’t know how well I’m doing on the actual follow-through lately, but I can say that I’ve started and am continuing to work toward my goal. With the support of friends and family, I will get there. Slowly, but surely.
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