Dangerous Depths of Discouragement

I am not as emotionally robust as many others I know, especially when it comes to my own work.

I have researched deeply and I know that disappointment and discouragement are a normal part of any writer’s journey. But knowing something intellectually, and preparing your heart for the attack, are very different ballgames. I can prepare my mind with relative ease, but my heart is a strange mystery to me.

I have studied my heart from every angle, and most of the time I convince myself that I have it well-understood. But then I can look back at patterns of avoidance and discouragement, and I realize my heart has been steering me away from a wound and I was oblivious.

This is where I am now, I have been avoiding writing for about a year now, because I just don’t have the emotional robustness that this path needs…

Does that mean my stories and story-ideas should be abandoned?
Of course not!
But I guess I needed a break.

Perhaps I won’t ever be published, I’ll have to console myself that I had good ideas, but not the right personality type to bounce back well enough to sell them. I’m not a salesman. I’m just me.

Maybe I’ll grow stronger in the future (this is always my hope)…

Blessings and Hopes that you are stronger,
Sarah

NaNoWriMo

For those of you who have no idea what the title means, here you are: National Novel Writing Month, which happens to start today, the 1st of November. As I have decided to participate this year, I am uncertain how many blog posts I will also be writing.

Count this as a warning that I might not post much this month. We’ll see what happens, eh?

Happy November and Blessings!
Sarah

Using Our Words Wisely

Hi there,

One of the good things that I’ve seen come out of Hurricane Harvey is the way so many have bonded together to support, uplift, and care for the victims of this historic disaster. Our empathy for this great tragedy has brought us closer together as a nation and as the human race.

As time moves forward and the empathy begins to wear off, I hope and pray that we can remember to keep a bridle on our “tongue,” as counseled by the apostle James.

A bridle is the headgear used by a rider to control which way a horse is going. “To bridle,” in the way James uses it here, means to control or restrain. By tongue, he means all words spoken or written.

So the question I pose is whether you control your tongue, or let it run free, unchecked. I know I have been guilty of letting my tongue wag freely, and, amazingly enough, nobody wanted to listen to what I had to say. More recently, I have seen freely wagging tongues on social media. We have all fallen into the trap of letting our emotions control what we say, rather than exercising self-mastery to edit our words before they are published to the world.

Those who seem to have the most influence in these tumultuous days, are those whose true agenda is never revealed. They know how to censor their words so well, that their followers do not believe when the truth finally is revealed.

As Disciples, it is of paramount importance that we set the better example of mastery over our tongues. We should not attack, profane, gossip, boast, or be rash in speaking, we should encourage envying, nor strife. We should study and follow the counsel of James (chapter 3) and speak wisdom from above, which is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

I know that I have work to do to bridle my tongue, will you join me?

Blessings,
Sarah

Venturing Outside

Something that can be hard to remember for a book-loving introvert, is to go outside, everyday (and walking between your car and house, work, store, church, does NOT count). I do remember to send my kids outside every day. I’m a big believer in the many valuable effects of playing outside. And living in the Mountain West, we get plenty of days of sunshine, so I can send them out all but 1 or 2 days a month.

But while my kids are joyfully playing in the sunshine, I’m usually seizing the moment to clean or prep something, or to write, budget, email, anything I need to do to get caught up. I have a few precious moments not being taken by the kids, so I usually keep them to myself.

But not today. Today I tackled a mountain of weeds in my garden that were taller than my kids, and I conquered them. I ventured out into the sun and the heat (it’s not bad today, only 83 degrees, with a nice breeze) with my sunhat and my pink gloves, and I waged war with that mountain. And I won! The best part? I got them before most of them went to seed, Yay!

I’m feeling good, and maybe I’ll have some autumn vegetables planted in a few weeks. I should really go outside more often.

Now back to my desk and that blog…

Blessings,
Sarah

Letting Go of the Reins

Hi there!

So I’m learning a lot about how to publish a book in a very short amount of time. The whole topic is worth it’s own professional certificate, there is SO much to learn!

One thing I’m learning is to trust the experts; the agents, the publishers, the editors. I haven’t started working with them yet, but I’m seeing the impact Not listening to them has. One of the hardest things to do is to let someone else tear apart your hard work. To hear them criticize it and tell you to change it, can be a painful process. 

I hope I can be ready to let go of the reins when I find my team. I hope I can listen to their advice, and respect it as the voice of experience that it is. I hope I don’t take it too personal when they tear apart my little creations. I hope I have learned enough to trust them.

I have dear friends and acquaintances who’s books never got off the ground (even really good ones) because they didn’t have the knowledge to learn how the industry works. They didn’t understand that asking for changes is a good thing, it means you passed the first hurdle. They didn’t realize that they are the rookie, and the editors, agents, publishers, etc. are the experts. A wise Second Leutenient won’t tell an Sergeant what to do, even though he has the higher rank. He will listen and learn as much as he can, regardless of whether or not he agrees with the Sergeant.

I always thought that writing the book was the hard part. But I’m learning that’s just the first mountain. Behind that is the whole range!

Good Luck and God Bless Friends,
Sarah