are you expecting too much from your novel?
I hear a lot of writers say things like,
“I want to be a bestselling six-figure award-winning author!”
When writing goes well, you’re in a fantastic mood. Your story is amazing! You want to share it with the world. You treat yourself to a glass of wine, a nice dinner, a day at the spa, a few hours of video games. You celebrate with friends.
When the writing doesn’t go well, you focus on all the things that are going wrong. You can’t get the story you want to tell out of your head. You don’t know what happens next. A reader gives you a one star review. An agent rejects your submission.
And the shitty thinking creeps in.
Someone on social media says something you don’t agree with. Your dishwasher catches fire while you’re in the shower. Your computer dies. Your dog has a sore leg. Maybe you should have been an exchange student in Paris. Why weren’t you invited to Jamie Monroe’s 4th grade birthday party? And everything is so difficult. So hard. You've fallen into the shitty thinking churn.
You hate your story.
Your writing is a cesspool of stupid.
No one’s ever going to want to read it.
Who are you kidding?
You’re too old.
You’re not original.
Who cares?
You’re ready to quit.
It is a lot of pressure as a writer, as a person, and it compounds.
Do you mean to put this kind of pressure on yourself?
Probably not.
It’s just happened.
Your accomplishments result in great moods and lots of excitement. But if it’s not going well, you’ve lost your mojo and the world is a little bit darker.
What does success realistically look like for your novel?
This is a question I ask my clients so we can talk realistically about what’s going to happen once they finish their novel.
(It’s never too early to start planning what happens after THE END.)
It’s great to have big dreams of bestsellers and six-figures, but is that the ONLY thing success means to you?
Here’s the absolute 1st thing I always tell them (I know this can help you this week…)
Today, think about how far you’ve come since you first started, and celebrate that success.
It's not just about the seven-figure movie deal starring Margot Robbie and Octavia Spencer.
Let some of it come from what you have accomplished in your day-to-day writing, your writing friendships, the goal you met this week.
Share that with the world. Text someone who supports your writing. Post on social media. Leave yourself a note.
A writer who can acknowledge their successes, big or small, isn’t arrogant.
It shows you’re consciously building your stamina.
You’re showing up.
Now keep going.
Hello!
My name is Jocelyn.
Story warrior, book lover, day dreamer, gardener, and creative. I help serious writers roll up their sleeves, get their novel ready for publishing, and reach readers. When I’m not elbow-deep in the story trenches, I’m outside world-building in my garden and battling weeds with my three criminal mastermind cats.
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