What If You Quit?

The question the Insecure Writing Group has for the first Wednesday of June is:

Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?

Did I ever quit writing?  Yes for about fifteen minutes.  Long enough to grab a cup of coffee and come to my senses.  Truly, I can't quit writing, that's who I am. 

It's tough especially when the rejections come or the sales aren't there.  But I don't know who I'd be if I didn't write.  On my writing journey I've discovered so many authors who have held out a hand and helped me.  That's the crazy thing of this business, all the support we give one another.  In a business made of hopes and dreams, support is a fantastic thing and with all of it around you - how could you quit?

Along for the ride at the grocery store - what if?

Scrubbing a bathroom - what if?

A story begins with what if and then it's a lot of perspiration to find out how it all ends.  I know life gets in the way; kids and parents, jobs, all it.   I've found that you can make those day to day obstacles work for you in the inspiration department.  There's ideas even in a store.  The other day I was following a parent on her grocery expedition and while she shopped I thought what if this, or that or the other thing happened - what a story that would make.  That same what if comes up when I'm in the middle of cleaning a bathroom or two.  Of course that's when I use the dullness of the task to fill in the blanks as  there isn't much inspiration in the back half of a toilet.

What if?

Actually, this time, while I was spraying and scrubbing I was thinking of that book on serial killers and how all that information is going to come in really handy for a future book.  What it will be about - well serial killers for sure.

More importantly, there's the readers.  Whether you have one reader, a hundred or thousands - it only takes one.  There's nothing better than knowing that someone read your story and liked it, maybe even forgot how tough real life can be - at least for a time.

Quit writing?   

In the words of one of my favourite authors, Stephen King:

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."

I don't know how true that quote is but I do know that if you quit, you'll never succeed as a writer.

So I write - stopping only to ask the occasional "what if?"

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Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com

Cold Days, Hot Nights

It's that time - the first Wednesday of the month and time for:

And it all begins, kind of like this:

In the dying days of winter...

Hah!  Dying days?

She's fooled us again, at least out here on the prairie and yes, at this time of year it's all about the weather!

 -38 Celsius(-36 Fahrenheit) is an all-time record, at least it was on the day I began to draft this post.  Winter isn't about to die, crap out or expire any time soon.  I had to use that phrase, any time soon.  Why?  It's one of those radio announcer phrases that really should die right along with this year's winter.

So there you have it, the cold part of this post, but to get to the hot we have to work our way through a little weirdness.  Everywhere in life there are the seeds of a story and some weeks the ground is fairly littered with ideas. Here's a recent day as an example - the weirdness of it, there lies the story. 

The day began with a visit with my mother who is still getting used to her new condo.  I suspect she is pining for the house she left behind after living there since she was a bride.  And she's also made it known that she misses her stuff.  Although that one does puzzle me as we moved far more than her new place will hold and she's had to continue down-sizing after the move.

"What stuff?" I asked trying to get some kind of specifics.  The liquidation of stuff was ongoing from last years spring garage sale through to the online fall selling bonanza I organized in the fall and ending with a finale of charity donations and garbage dumps. 

"I can't find my evaporated milk.  I was sure I packed three cans."

Whoa... evaporated milk?  Moving into the third month and evaporated milk is the issue?  With sofas and chairs and excess lamps on my past agenda, the last thing I had time to consider was a measly can of evaporated milk. 

An update - The evaporated milk never did make an appearance and I have to admit my mind was on other things, the class a few nights ago for one - the Erotic Writing class at the Public Library - yes, didn't I promise hot nights?  But erotica aside, first I had to deal with the guinea pig.

Guinea pig?

You heard right.  My mother is in charge of my niece's pet while she's on vacation.  Only problem, she won't touch it!  Okay, there lies the rub.  Guinea pigs are fairly harmless critters but they do tend to have a very active elimination system that requires a good clean up every three days if you don't want a stinky cage and an unhappy critter.  Besides, everyone needs a little exercise.  And that was the cue for my entrance - an assist to a guinea pig.

I got home in time to discover mail from the public library.  Not sure what this could mean I opened the envelope and discovered I'd won a prize at the Erotic Writing class - a gift certificate to a sex shop!

Yes all of that was a days work and it left me with this dilemma:
Where to begin? 

What do I write about?

Oh the choices....

Evaporated milk

Guinea pigs

an upcoming trip to the sex shop?

There's ideas everywhere, just make sure you pick up your feet so you don't stumble on one or two.  What has you rushing to get to the keyboard?  Alternatively, what has you picking up one book over another?


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Another Day, Another Comma

So it's the first Wednesday of the month and time to post with The Insecure Writer's Support Group.  Check the long list of awesome blogs at the bottom, when you get to the end of my ramblings.

Today I'm thinking about how far I've come and how far I have yet to go.  I find lately, that I tend to look forward more than I look back.  Kind of like a mountain climber that isn't anywhere near the top but they're not at the bottom either.  Clinging to my rope and peering at the top and despairing about how much further.  But I should look back for that is where my victories lie. 

I've published three books and a fourth is about to be published.  The last two books are e-books only as I try a two-pronged approach to publishing.  An e-book, a print book - a book published at all is fantastic, I know that.  I'm thrilled and excited.   But four books in, I know that after all the hoopla dies down, there's the reality - a book needs readers and if I'm to succeed, it's up to me to find them.

Publishing a book is only the beginning.  Selling a book is the journey you'll be on with that book for the rest of its life.  I have to admit - I love the theory of marketing.  In reality - it's one big twisted algorithm.  Okay, not so much - but you published writers out there, you know what I mean.  It's a beast you can't always quantify.  Sometimes it's like catching a fish with your bare hands. 


Did I mention that I'm a worrier?  I could have given a class in Worrying 101, 201, never mind straight through the upper levels, before I hit grade school.  If you're offering a class on worrying hire me, I'm a natural.

Oh wait - my inbox just dinged.  My mind reels with possibilities.
a)  It could be a reject of a manuscript
b)  Some other type of bad news - who knows what but give me a moment and I'm sure I'll come up with it.
c)  Groupon again - why can't I get off their subscriber list?

So I'm learning to enjoy the moment rather than stew about what ifs and the possibilities that the dreaded Amazon algorithm will strike me in my sleep.   Because now it's not just rejection that comes in an e-mail - good reviews, a reader or two and acceptance lands there too. 

Do you look back or forward?

Ryshia
www.ryshiakennie.com
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From the Dust
Ring of Desire
Fatal Intent