Whoever said “too much of a good thing is a bad thing” hit the nail right on the head. Currently, where I’m at in my writing journey, I feel like lots of things are going right. The novel is completely edited, betas are reading my story, I finally found a dependable critique partner and I’m even in negotiations with a cover designer. Woot woot!
So, yeah, a few things are going great. That’s not to say everything is wonderful and amazing over here but we’ll save that for a little later. :)
What I’ve noticed is that as many great doors open up for me, I find myself spending less time writing. Not to mention, my stress level is sky rocketing, as well but let’s start with writing.
Honestly, it’s kinda been pushed to the back burner which is frustrating because , like I said in my last post, writing is the reason I’m putting myself through all this craziness. Craziness meaning spirals of self-doubt, three side jobs to pay the bills, savings to pay the bills, trial-and-error marketing attempts, and lots more. I mean I’m technically “vacationing” right now but I’m still working online and the main point of my trip to Germany is to look at graduate schools.
Now, obviously, these are good problems to have. Beta readers are like holy beings to we aspiring writers. Not to mention, the idea of finally seeing your story presented as a cover gives every writer the happy tingles in their tummy…or maybe that’s just me. Anyway, what I’m trying to get across is that even though I’m blessed to have more “good” problems than bad” problems, they’re still problems.
But if I sound like a whiny baby here (#firstworldproblems), let’s take a gander at the “bad” problems…
So, first, my lovely betas who I adore because they’re the best? I need more of them. I thought getting betas would be so easy. I mean, you’re basically giving people the chance to read a book for free. Who wouldn’t take that opportunity? Apparently, a lot of
people because, let me tell you, getting the seven betas I have was no easy picnic.
I had to do more asking than actually having people seek me out to be a beta reader which is a bit embarrassing but, hey, I’m supposed to be 100 with you peeps.
Beyond betas, marketing is a pain in the badonkadonk (the butt). I’ve had a revelation about my previous marketing strategy that I now realize is completely flawed. By setting up social media accounts ahead of PC&EGS’ completion, I thought I was ahead of the curve. What I’ve realized is that while I’ve networked like a boss with other writers, I can’t say the same about readers.
Yeah, that was real dumb on my part.
So, here I stand. Happy, questioning, hating myself for my bad marketing, over-worked and full of that lovely feeling we writers call self-doubt. But, hey, at least I’m not there alone.
Where are you peeps in your writing journey? You ready to pull your hair out like me?