How Do You Find Time? –IWSG Post

Hello friends!

Today I'm participating in Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group, so be sure to check out other posts like it.

Maybe you can tell from the language I'm using to write this post, or maybe not, but I am exhausted. It's 10:30 AM on a Wednesday morning, and I've already taken a psychology class from 8 to 9:15 today. Sure, it's only one college class, but Monday's and Wednesday's are my lazy days.

Tuesday's and Thursday's, that's another story. I'm on campus from 8am to 4pm.

The homework isn't too bad, it's just a ton of reading. I'm enjoying all of my classes, even the math. Though, the math homework is pretty terrifying.

I'm also officially getting hired today!

So while all of these things are great, "how do you find time to write in your busy day?" you ask.

Well…

I've edited four pages over a week.

So…to fully answer your question, I have to say that balancing writing and my new schedule are becoming extremely difficult. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person to give up something I love just because it's hard. I'm definitely not going to be taking any writing breaks or go on hiatus (though my absences from blogging seem to make it look that way).

One of my biggest weaknesses is time management. Ever since college started, I've been doing a lot better with it, but it's still not good enough. How do I balance class, homework, real work, writing, and still maintain a healthy social life while making sure I eat enough and get enough sleep?

The answer: I don't know.

At least, I haven't figured it out yet.

How do you find time to write in your busy day? (Hopefully you're doing a better job than I am!)

–Jess

Everything's Spinning Out of Control!!

Ever feel like no matter how long you work during the day, it's never enough?

Well then, don't worry, you're not alone, I know exactly how you feel right now. I could not be more swamped with life in general. Not that that's a bad thing…if you're not busy then I guess you're not living every moment to the fullest, but damn it can be so stressful!

Anyway, today is the IWSG, and I know I'm really late in posting, but here goes anyway.

I'm really insecure about how my blogfest is going to go on Friday. And I'm insecure about what people will think of my writing.

I know we're not supposed to care what other people think, and you should only write the story you want to write. And I did write the story I wanted to write, but I'm just afraid that other people might not like that story as much as I liked writing it.

It's a silly fear, I know, but a very real one, at that.

Anyway, the Kindle edition of From the Ashes goes live on Friday!

So I'm really excited about that, but it's still really scary. Not only will my book be available to people, it'll be very accessible! That's a great thing, but I'm so scared about it! The more people that read it, the more chances my baby has to be not liked. Or liked, but I'm clearly not afraid of that.

For those of you that have already signed up, I promise, I'm sending the info you need for my blogfest TONIGHT. Some of you have asked for me to send it, and I felt really bad that I hadn't already, but life has just been so pushy lately I haven't gotten to it.

If you'd like to sign up, it's going to be on Friday and you can sign up below.

Rules:

1. Sign up on the linky list below
2. Grab the blogfest button above
3. On Friday, March 8th, tell us about a time when you or your character was thrown into a trial by fire situation. What biggest fears did you or your character have to face? What sort of situation would test you to the fullest?
4. Post the pre-written info I will send you by email with the cover and a few more details about From the Ashes

Thanks so much, you guys, you're awesome!!

–Jess

Almost Over…

Okay.

I'll fully admit that I'm pretty nervous.

I should be getting my final proof back by February 4th.

After that, all I have to do, is press "publish."

I'm not sure how long it takes to go from pressing "publish" to it actually being published. And I'm not really sure how setting up a release date goes, but by the stars, I'm really nervous.

I assumed that a decent amount of people would buy it. Like some of you guys, and some of my friends from the ice rink…but I hadn't really expected people I used to know from public school to get it. Or people I knew a long time ago.

People keep asking me when it's coming out, and suddenly I'm really scared of what people might think.

Yes, I wrote the story I wanted to write.

It's exactly what I wanted it to be.

But what if people don't like it for what it is?

Anyway, that's just what I've been worrying about lately. How are you guys?

Happy Wednesday!

--Jess

I Actually Have to TALK?

Well, it looks like I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I really wanted to, and I made a last effort to prepare for it on October 31st, but I wrote absolutely nothing yesterday. Sure, I have today to catch up, but that'd mean a TON of work.

I have a story idea.

Not a storyline, or a plot, or characters.

Just an idea.

And I like to have things planned out before I write it, otherwise I get lost halfway through the draft.

So, yes, this is my explanation for not being able to do NaNo this year. I feel like I'm betraying all of you who are joining in. This is the first year I haven't participated since I started writing novels.

I'm pretty sad about it.

Secondly, I have some exciting (or scary, either way works) news. I have to talk to a Senior Publishing Consultant at CreateSpace today.

OH. MY. GOD.

What scares me the most is that I have to really talk. Not email, or IM.

I have to USE MY VOICE BOX and talk on the TELEPHONE.

You see, I'm not a very good talker. I have a writing voice, not a speaking voice. Of course, it's all right once I'm talking to friends, but my "writing voice" is still much better.  My speaking vocabulary is filled with an overuse of teen words like "like," and "cool," and "totally."

Worst of all, I say "um" a LOT. Especially when I get excited.

Another thing is, I'm not sure if these people know I'm only 16. I'd kind of like to see how long it takes them to figure it out. Oh well. They'll probably realize that today after listening to my limited vocabulary, lol :)

I'm really scared.

Wish me luck, guys!

--Jess

I'm Stunned.

Oh my gosh.

I can't believe it.

It doesn't quite seem possible, despite how long I've been working on it.

Time seems to have come to a halt. After hours and days, and weeks, months and even years, have I finally finished editing my first book?

The urge to read through it one last time is so hard to resist, but I told everyone else this is the final draft. I keep thinking I should just tell them I was wrong. That it needs just one more read through.

But honestly.

How many read throughs will it take to make it perfect?

Never enough.

It's finally as close to perfect as it'll ever be. So with all it's flaws (I know it has them), I'm starting the publishing process with CreateSpace today.

Oh my gosh.

I'm absolutely stunned.

Any suggestions? If you've self published through CreateSpace, is there anything I need to know?

--Jess

First Query Letter... Ever.

Today, I sent off my first query letter.

It was probably the scariest and most exciting thing I'd ever done.

I had her email address in the "Send To" box, and the words Query Letter as the title, but I still wasn't ready.

I switched back to my query letter and read it.

Cut out a 'that'.

Then I read it again.

Reworded a sentence.

Then read it again.

My fingers started to tremble, because I was running out of things I knew how to fix.  And I knew that once I couldn't find anything wrong, I'd have to send it.

I asked my mom to read over it.

Changed another sentence.

When my mom said it was good, I nodded and pasted my query into the email.

Read over it again.

Everything was fine.

I was done.

And being 'done' scared the crap out of me.  I'd never been done before.  Done with a draft, but never like... done. Finished.  The End.

I moused over the 'send' button, but something held me back.  I touched the 'left click' button on the mouse, but couldn't press it.  There had to be something I was missing.

After reading over it ONE. MORE. TIME. I decided I had to go for it.

I took a deep breath and got ready to press it again.

No, actually, I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, crossed my toes, my legs and my arms and shut my eyes.

Carefully, I pressed it.

But I didn't let go.  I held it down, knowing the moment I picked up my finger, it would be sent.

Then of course, my mom came over and lifted up my hand from my computer.

Message sent.

I spent about an hour trying to stay calm after that.  I'd start cracking up randomly and then feel a little queasy.  Finally, I settled down and was pretty much okay.

How do you guys feel about sending out query letters?  Do you get nervous?


Have an awesome weekend!

--Jess

IWSG: Critiquing

First of all, wow.

I can't believe it's already May.  I'm not sure if I should be wishing for more time, or be jumping up and down because summer break is just around the corner.  No, seriously, I made a countdown right

about...

There:  {------------------------------------->

(The arrow only makes sense if this is the top post on my blog.  So for people looking at this in the future... be aware.)

Okay, it took waay longer than it should have to figure out exactly where to point that arrow.  And when summer starts, I will have SOOO much more time to write and get my work done.  I'm extremely excited about that :)

Now, for my IWSG Post.

I'm insecure about critiquing.

Or critique partnering.

Or beta reading.

They're all very similar, but yes, I'm insecure about it.  Don't get me wrong: I'm not insecure about getting feedback or anything like that.  I love getting helpful feedback and having more than just my mom's and my best friend's terribly biased opinion on my work.

I'm insecure about critiquing for other people.

Sure, I've beta read before.  I'm beta reading a book right now, and critiquing two more.  (When did I ever say I wasn't busy?)

Sometimes the story I'm reading is just too darn good!  I mean, there are problems with every book.  No book is perfect.  But there are times when I have a really hard time finding something to fix.

I can't say I've ever gotten insufficient feedback, but there have been a few where I'd liked to have known more about what I could do to fix my story.  And when I give feedback, I want people to to walk away with a bunch of good suggestions and ways to improve their story.  I want to make it easy for them to fix things.

So, when I can't find much to fix, it scares me out of my mind!

What about you guys?  Are you insecure about critiquing/beta reading?

--Jess