CYD 2010: Author Advice with Martha Flynn
WELCOME TO DAY TWENTY OF THE COMPLETE YOUR DRAFT CHALLENGE!
Everyone should follow today's guest on Twitter. She's one of the most fun people to watch The Vampire Diaries "with". Well, her and Heidi Kling. They are a duo of hilarity. Which is one of the reasons I asked her to guest blog for the CYD. So enjoy a few words from a past participant and future rock star!
Check out lesleysays's blog tomorrow for more advice from authors you know, or authors you NEED to know.
Thanks, Martha Flynn (@marthaflynn), for the words of wisdom, but mostly for making me laugh. :D
When I was first asked to submit an encouraging blog for the Complete Your Draft Challenge, I gleefully said yes! Or to quote myself, “Totally!”
After all, I’d participated in completing my draft last year. In fact, I have written not one but several drafts of questionable quality.
September dawned and encouraging blogs were posted. Blogs from Ingrid Law. Cindy Pon. Even Carrie Jones threw in a vlog starring furry adorables.
I thought to myself - are you kidding me? What kind of encouragement could I possibly offer compared to these indomitable women? What do I have that these ladies don’t have? And okay, here it is - this is what I have: the absence of publication.
I am not published. I do not have a contract. I don’t even have the faint glimmerings of a contract on the horizon. I am knee-deep smack in the middle of a wordy hot mess that may never see the inside of a printing press.
My guess is - ditto for some of you.
So why complete the draft?
Here’s why - I was watching a locally filmed documentary about a dominatrix sex worker (stay with me, people; it’s a short ride) during which she revealed the dreaded coming-out conversation with her parents who nervously opined: “We’re just worried you’re doing it for the money.”
She laughed at this, since that’s why they did their humdrum jobs. For the money. That’s why I have my job. Even though I found a rewarding position in nonprofits, the truth of it is - I’m there for the money.
So, again, why the complete the draft?
Because if you’re like me - right now - this draft, these words, the time spent, is one hundred percent all about you.
Whatever cliche words and thrown-together themes and metaphors and tomes of angst are pouring through your fingertips - that’s you. Make no mistake. There is never going to be anything else you can do that is more about you than finishing this draft.
Waking up in the morning - that’s for your job. Getting breakfast on the table -that’s for your kids. Cleaning the house -that’s for the guests that might drop by. Even exercising - isn’t that mostly for the guy you’re having drinks with later?
Call me selfish, egocentric or guilty of one too many Oprah episodes, but there is something wonderful and motivating about finishing something just for me.
So finish your draft. Not for a contract. Not for publication. For you. Last time I checked, you’re pretty fabulous.
Martha's bio:
Everyone should follow today's guest on Twitter. She's one of the most fun people to watch The Vampire Diaries "with". Well, her and Heidi Kling. They are a duo of hilarity. Which is one of the reasons I asked her to guest blog for the CYD. So enjoy a few words from a past participant and future rock star!
Check out lesleysays's blog tomorrow for more advice from authors you know, or authors you NEED to know.
Thanks, Martha Flynn (@marthaflynn), for the words of wisdom, but mostly for making me laugh. :D
When I was first asked to submit an encouraging blog for the Complete Your Draft Challenge, I gleefully said yes! Or to quote myself, “Totally!”
After all, I’d participated in completing my draft last year. In fact, I have written not one but several drafts of questionable quality.
September dawned and encouraging blogs were posted. Blogs from Ingrid Law. Cindy Pon. Even Carrie Jones threw in a vlog starring furry adorables.
I thought to myself - are you kidding me? What kind of encouragement could I possibly offer compared to these indomitable women? What do I have that these ladies don’t have? And okay, here it is - this is what I have: the absence of publication.
I am not published. I do not have a contract. I don’t even have the faint glimmerings of a contract on the horizon. I am knee-deep smack in the middle of a wordy hot mess that may never see the inside of a printing press.
My guess is - ditto for some of you.
So why complete the draft?
Here’s why - I was watching a locally filmed documentary about a dominatrix sex worker (stay with me, people; it’s a short ride) during which she revealed the dreaded coming-out conversation with her parents who nervously opined: “We’re just worried you’re doing it for the money.”
She laughed at this, since that’s why they did their humdrum jobs. For the money. That’s why I have my job. Even though I found a rewarding position in nonprofits, the truth of it is - I’m there for the money.
So, again, why the complete the draft?
Because if you’re like me - right now - this draft, these words, the time spent, is one hundred percent all about you.
Whatever cliche words and thrown-together themes and metaphors and tomes of angst are pouring through your fingertips - that’s you. Make no mistake. There is never going to be anything else you can do that is more about you than finishing this draft.
Waking up in the morning - that’s for your job. Getting breakfast on the table -that’s for your kids. Cleaning the house -that’s for the guests that might drop by. Even exercising - isn’t that mostly for the guy you’re having drinks with later?
Call me selfish, egocentric or guilty of one too many Oprah episodes, but there is something wonderful and motivating about finishing something just for me.
So finish your draft. Not for a contract. Not for publication. For you. Last time I checked, you’re pretty fabulous.
Martha's bio:
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