The Dormant Season

“It’s cold, mommy!” My daughter uttered these words after I pulled her bundled body from the car seat. “It is cold, baby!” I ensured that only her eyes were exposed, held her close and dashed into the house. In the last six weeks, this scenario has played out day after day. I’m used to it now, having experienced the snowiest winter on record in Metro Detroit in 36 years, as well as the coldest I ever remember. Like many Michiganders, I’m so over it. I’m tired of aching knees, icy streets, mounds of snow and bitter temps.

This weather hasn’t made it easy to move forward with some things I committed to in the last few months. For instance, this winter my inner voice has often said, “Let’s go to the gym.” My combative inner child has responded by thrashing around on the floor and yelling “Noooo, it’s too cold!” or “I want cake!” Let’s just say that I’m looking for a muzzle to fit my inner child. Then there are household tasks--like having both a clean office and a clean bedroom at the same time (#fail). And of course, there are these writing goals. I’ve done a decent job of working on my new novel, but when it comes to consistency in blogging and social media, I kind of suck. I think it’s because so many ideas are floating around in my brain that I entertain many and commit to few. Consequently, I feel like I’m in a dormant season.

My own revelation of dormancy reminds me of the cycle of seasons. In winter, nature goes into a waiting state. Vegetation that was plush and colorful a few months ago is now barren and frozen in time. I realize that my absence from this blog and sporadic resurfacing on social media have probably given the appearance that I, too, am suspended from life, but I ask you to note my use of the term “appearance.”


You see, when something provides an appearance, the visual may not reflect the reality. Yesterday I watched snow flurries dance outside the window and saw a tree in our yard that had the appearance of death. Since we’ve been in our home, beautiful red berries, resembling tiny maraschino cherries, blossom on that tree. Today that tree looks absent of life, but I know there’s something going on in the inside that proves it’s alive. An energy moves through that tree’s roots, trunk, branches and bark that will manifest in spring. It is preparing for a season of harvest.

This understanding encourages me this winter. Though I might appear to be dormant, please know that something is alive on the inside. Yes, this has been a time of rest, but I am preparing for a harvest of my own. Spring is right around the corner.




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Shellie

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Confessions of a Good Writer With a Sucky System

I confess:  Despite my love for fiction, I end up reading more nonfiction in a year than fiction. Often times I read books about writing, marketing and the like. Last week I finished “Your First 1000 Copies” by Tim Grahl. I wasn’t sure what to expect beyond tips on developing an e-mail distribution list and the power of marketing. I found that the book is filled with useful information on growing your platform, building your audience and understanding how to connect with your fans. So it’s funny that the thing that resonated was actually a statement about process.

 

Grahl noted that creating newsletters, blog posts, social media, guest articles and the like can be a daunting task. I nodded my head in agreement, pointing to my personal struggles with keeping my own outreach methods going on a continuous basis. Grahl went on to discuss the fact that some writers have a flawed system of execution that prevents them from producing results, or at least producing them with ease. Then, he did it. With these words, he pounced on each of my little piggies as they hid in the darkened toe box of my metallic patent leather pumps:

 

“Unfortunately, some writers do fall victim to this idea due to poor execution. Such writers often come from a journalism, academic or other traditional writing background. To them, their system involves identifying something to write (via an article assignment, book deal, etc.) and then putting their head down to research and write it. That approach is terribly inefficient and, frankly, boring because it’s very isolating and lonely.”

 

Ouch! This little piggy cried wee, wee, wee, wee alllll the way home. Okay, I didn’t really cry, but it was a wake-up call.  I realized that I am that writer—the one with the journalistic and traditional writing background; the one with degrees in Print Journalism and Technical Communication; the one who worked as a technical writer for seven years; the one with experience in corporate writing; the one who has written freelance biographies, articles and more. I’ve been programmed to plan, research, write and edit. When it comes to anything but fiction, I often find myself mulling over the details so much that by the time I finish brainstorming, it’s midnight, I’ve written nothing and I have to go to work the next morning. Either that or I end up writing a dissertation that takes four hours to write and is too long for people to actually read.

 

Point taken, Mr. Grahl. Thanks for being that fire under my bum. Excuse me while I review my highlights in “Your First 1000 Copies.”

 

In Search of a New System….

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Shellie

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Fear Factor Part 2: Failing Up

I had an epiphany. I realized that we are brought up to fear failure. In part, I believe that our perceptions of failure are shaped in the same place we learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Schools help establish our learning patterns and set a standard for achievement that we carry with us well into adulthood, far beyond our academic days.

Consider the five-point grading scale that is used by most of America’s schools. It may vary from location to location but is nearly identical to this model:

A=Excellent

B=Good
C=Average
D=Poor
F=Failing

The range varies by school and school system, but an A (including A plus and A minus) may be awarded for performance that is ranked between 90 and 100 percent. Grades B, C and D also have their ranges. When you think about it, only one grade provides no variation in the degree of achievement. When an F is earned, there is no range and no need for debate—you’ve failed and you know it.

The F—the granddaddy of bad grades—was like the bogeyman when I was growing up. I heard other kids talk about it, and I even knew the boy who was rumored to earn it regularly, but I never saw it for myself. I wanted desperately to ensure that I never did see it. Like a comic book villain, the F lurks in classroom hallways, dripping beads of scarlet sweat, carrying the stench of permanent marker and waiting to be unfurled on its next victim. Though it is not called in to work as much as its more noteworthy colleagues like the grades A and B and even the mediocre C, the F is more intimidating than its associates and always carries the shock factor. With each appearance, it shows up to rob children of their self-confidence, shame them for their lack of preparation and shout that they’re dumb.

This grading scale reinforces the notion that failure is the polar opposite of success. When we grow up, we carry our sensitivity about the scale into our jobs. We are outraged when our boss completes a performance review and includes a ranking that we are certain does not align with our performance. We rate everything from looks, to books to movies. So what happens when we set a goal and don’t get the result we hope for? We think about those rating scales and are stung all over again with the stigma carried from our school days.

What would happen if we started to think of failure not as the opposite of success but as the result of not trying? What if failure were not final but merely a step on the road to achievement? This way of thinking is new to me, although Thomas Edison understood it years ago. He said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” What a concept! To find 10,000 ways that do not work to uncover one or two that do—and to experience each failure as a step toward success. How many of us have a fraction of that drive when it comes to our dreams?

If you are not where you want to be in a particular area of learning or achievement, why not start to set some clear goals and objectives? When I decided that there were several scenes of my book that could be improved, I took an online writing class and committed to making those scenes more engaging. It was a small step that made a big difference in the final product.  

If you feel that something bigger than you is trapped inside of you, I encourage you to rethink failure. Prepare for 10,000 ways. Who knows? Even if you end up with a different outcome than the one you hoped for, your path may lead you to something you'd never imagined you could achieve! 

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Don’t Let Fear Trap Your Dreams

“Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create.” You, too, may have heard actor Will Smith speak these words in a promo for the new film titled “After Earth,” which he stars in with his son, Jaden. The words stayed with me because I’ve been thinking a lot about fear this year. As I’ve realized my dream of publishing my first novel, I’ve also learned a lot about how fear has played a factor in my life and my decisions. I’m not talking about the type of fear that is associated with the fight-or-flight response, but the type of fear that keeps you from pursuing your dreams.

We have so many reasons for not chasing attainable dreams, whether they are to write a book, start a new business, pursue a relationship, earn a degree, change careers or pursue some other venture. We convince ourselves that we don’t have the time or the money. We tell ourselves our dreams are unachievable or silly. We concern ourselves with what other people will say or think, then we count the number of people who will be waiting for us to fail. We allow all of these thoughts to enter our psyche then we say, “Well, life’s not that bad. I’ll just carry on like I always have.” But it’s not about life being bearable as it is; it’s about us being too afraid to do what we were designed to do. It’s about us allowing fear to trap our dreams.

The topic of fear is one that is so powerful and intricate, I can’t speak on it in one post. So, guess what? I have decided to dedicate the month of June to posts about fear. Each week, I’ll bring you a new post on the topic of fear. I hope that my commitment to “punching fear in the face” (as my blog description notes) helps someone else as they consider their own challenges.

Get ready because this should be interesting, especially since I’ll be writing about a topic I have to crucify day in and day out. Stay tuned. We’ll see how this goes!

Shellie

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The Best Writing Advice Ever

I’ve read many books on writing during my journey to becoming an author, but there is one that really reached me—“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. I actually read it for a writing class in grad school and I had no idea it would become one of my top 10 favorite books. In “Bird by Bird,” Lamott gives a close-up view of the writing process and all of the bumps and bruises that come along with it. It chips away at any false perceptions that glamorize writing and gets right to the point on issues like finding your own voice, creating better dialog and even using writing to become a better reader. Bonus: The book is funny!

For me, the most spectacular thing about this book is a single quote. The quote is not actually by Lamott herself, but by acclaimed author E. L. Doctorow. It’s marked in my copy of the book—dog-eared on p. 18 and highlighted in faded green ink: “E.L. Doctorow once said that ‘writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’”

When I read it, it was as if the clouds parted and the angels emerged wearing flowing white garments, playing enchanting melodies on stately golden harps. Well, maybe the experience was not that dramatic, but it did produce an epiphany. This quote confirmed that my process wasn’t as haphazard as I thought. Maybe I was closer to the habits of many successful writers who’d already broken through the barriers of rejection and struggle. It was okay that I didn’t know the outcome of every scene, let alone the ending of Broken Vessels. I was no longer uncomfortable in sharing the fact that, from the beginning, I had dumped the traditional approach (screw the rigid outline) and was letting the story unfold as the characters led me.

So now you know the writing quote that keeps me going. And it will continue to guide me…as long as I’ve turned on the headlights.

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