Winning Streak or Losing Streak

Okay, so I've been gone for a while! I swear I didn't mean to do that. But I was crazy-busy with planning and executing WriteOnCon (only the most amazing thing ever!) and then I moved right into work again. School starts TODAY, and I've been swamped with teacherly things, and motherly things, and well, when you stop blogging for a while, you sort of forget it's there... Tell me I'm not the only one who does that!

Anyway, I know I give you guys my professional development lectures every year. I just find them so inspirational, and I find that they almost always relate to how I'm feeling as a writer.

So we focus a lot on data at my school, because we're a Title I school and a lot of our funding comes from such things. One of our speakers was talking about winning streaks and losing streaks. He said something that resonated with me. He said that it only takes two (TWO) events to get on a streak, either winning or losing. Two successes to feel confident. To self-analyze how we're doing, and what we could be doing better. Two successes to feel like we know what we're doing. (He, of course, was talking about creating successes for kids, and I, of course, agreed and then applied it to writing/publishing.) Two successes to think, "Hey, I might be good at this."

Hopefully, you've been on a winning streak before. Maybe even in publishing.

Then he said that it only takes two disappointments or failures to be on a losing streak. Two failed tests. Two instances where a student couldn't perform what they were asked to. And this is the dangerous spiral. When you're on a losing streak, you want to give up. You criticize yourself mercilessly. You have no confidence and no motivation to keep trying. Not only do we start to think, "I can't do this," we continue that thought to "I can't do this, because I'm not good at it."

Oh, how I've felt this in writing. Two rejections in a row can get you there. Maybe my book is terrible. Maybe I'm not a good writer.

Two bad reviews. My book is lame. I can't plot. I should just give up.

The trick is to take the "failures" and make them into successes. Or ignore them. Or make it so you don't even know about them.

Or eat a lot of ice cream and have a writer's group to vent to. Ha!

No matter what, I felt that what our trainer was saying was true. I've felt it as I've pursued a writing career, and I know my students feel it as they try to learn math, science, and English. My goal is make sure EVERY interaction they have is a success, and I'm going to try to work through the losing streak in writing, anticipating a success just around this next corner...

Where are you right now? Winning streak or losing streak?

When You Feel Unmotivated...

I've been struggling with motivation this week. I've had plenty of time to write, so that's not the issue. The problem is, I don't want to write.

So I haven't.

That's right. I don't force myself to write everyday. If I don't feel like it, I don't. This week, instead of writing I have watched a couple of Harry Potter movies, Water for Elephants, folded all my laundry the same day I washed and dried it, made dinner, and a variety of other things.

I'll feel the writing tug again. But right now, I'm not. And so I'm not writing. Sometimes it's okay to just be a person too.

What do you do when you feel unmotivated? I'm running out of ideas...

Motivation? You Want Motivation?

Okay, fine. Here's some motivation for you.

First off, I could cite any number of sports movies, most of which have some basis in fact. I mean, seriously. INVINCIBLE?

One of the greats. A regular guy tries out for--and makes the team of--a professional football team. If you haven't seen it, dude, Redbox it up tonight.

THE NATURAL. Baseball.

HOOSIERS. Basketball.

FOREVER STRONG. Rugby. (One of my faves, FYI. The MC has a lot of anger, and you know how I feel about angsty, angry teens. Or maybe you don't... I sense another blog post coming on!)

SOUL SURFER. Swimming/Surfing. (Let the record show that I haven't seen this movie, but it sounds like a girl overcoming the odds to keep on surfing. Yeah?)

I won't bore you to death with more sports movies. In fact, I'm sort of embarrassed I know so many. (RUDY, MIRACLE, THE BLIND SIDE, CINDERELLA MAN, SEABISCUIT, REMEMBER THE TITANS... Okay, okay, I'll stop now.)

The point is, people overcome the odds. They go up against the things stacked against them, and they win.

Why can't you?

You can.

I queried two novels before I found an agent. I sent well into the hundreds the first time, and well into the hundreds the second. I endured a combined total of 16 months of querying. I have 188 rejections for Possession alone.

I prevailed.

You can too.

How's that for motivation? What motivates you? (In case you haven't seen it, go here to see New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) talk about motivation. It's priceless.)

Getting Out Of Your Own Way

Okay, I sucketh at this. But you know how sometimes you're your own worst enemy? Your toughest critic? All that jazz?

Yeah, me too.

So here's the deal. I've been sending and receiving quite a few emails with some friends of mine. They are kind, and helpful, and oh-so-valuable to me.

One thing I read that really caught my eye was something along the lines of: You've done all you can do. Get out of your own way. (This is not a direct quote, but it's what I heard in my brain.)

Wow. Just wow.

That was an awesome lesson for me. Sometimes I think creative people beat themselves up too much. We're just a little too hard on ourselves. We actually make life and writing and creating harder than it needs to be.

And who's that obstacle?

Ourself. (Is ourself a word? Sounds funny coming out of my mouth, but it's not underlined...)

So. Following the advice of Michael Jackson, take a good look at the man in the mirror. And ask yourself: What do I want? Am I working hard to get it? Have I done all I can do?

Am I standing in my own way?

Then get out of your own way.

Motivational Monday

This summer, my fabu crit partner, Sara, spent a bunch of time in London researching Winston Churchill. (Yeah, your summer just got worse, didn't it? Don't worry, mine too.) She brought us (the crit groupies) a bunch of stuff from England that we totally don't deserve. This postcard was one such gift, and one of the most inspiring things I've read in a long time.

I think I'll let it speak for itself.

But go check out what my CP's have to say about this motto.
Jenn Wilks
Ali Cross
Stacy Henrie

And you knew it was coming... What's a motto?

I don't know. What's the motto with you?

Haha! But seriously, do you have a motto that inspires you? It's Motivational Monday - lay it on me!

Oh!! And don't forget that we WriteOnCon organizers are doing a live chat tonight to get your feedback about the conference so we can make next year's event beltacular (don't know what that means? It'll blow your mind). So join us on the WriteOnCon site at 9 PM EDT.

Determining Character Motivation

Okay, so I asked you yesterday to give me some character motivation. I'm paralyzed with fear that my second book will have the exact same motivation as the first. And can you say YAWN?

So I've been soul searching the past couple of days (really, like five, cuz I write all these posts on the weekend), and I turned to a post-it stuck to the computer next to me.

It's a quote from GLEE, believe it or not. I scrawled it out in red Sharpie as soon as Jesse spoke it. Because it's exactly the question you have to answer to determine your character's motivation.

When you lie awake at night, what's missing?

I wish I could answer that for Gunner right now. Le sigh. Soon, maybe. Soon.

What about you? How do you figure out your character's motivation?

PS. I'm up on the League of Extraordinary Writers today. And I'm donning a cape here...

Now I Am The Voice

Having a down day? A down month? Wondering if this writing thing is for you? Got too many voices in your head--and I don't mean characters. I mean self-doubt--? Those stinging ones I talked about last week, saying "I can't." or "I'm not good enough." Or whatever.

Try this on for size. (And yes, I cry at this assembly. UVU--a local university--athletes come and present it to schools. I am a baby. Deal with it.)

Now I am the VOICE.
I will LEAD, not follow.
I will CREATE, not destroy.
I am a FORCE for GOOD
I am a LEADER
DEFY the ODDS
Set a NEW STANDARD
Step up

Step up

Step up!

(~Anthony Robbins)

So today, I invite you to silence the stinging voices, and take control. Today, YOU are the VOICE. What will you say?

Motivation

Yeah, okay, I don't have any. Basically here's the low-down.

1. I've been rewriting my book.
2. Finished (yay!)
3. Had a weird moment where I thought the first 2/3 were actually good.
4. Maniacal laughing.
5. Sent it off to betas. (just the first 100 pages)
6. Two crits come back.
7. Status: Not bad. Fixable. Embarrassing slips/mistakes. No problemo. Cut, reword, done.
8. Send the first 100 to gammas.
9. Get opinions before they're done reading on the beginning.
10. Get third beta read back.
11. Now have three opinions that basically say the same thing.

*insert WALL here*

*stone*

*mortar*

*twenty feet high*

*with guards*

*guards with guns*

I see what they're saying. My problem? I have absolutely no motivation to do it.

Why? (imagine that in my best whiny voice) Why don't I want to dive right back in and fix this? Do I agree? Does that matter? Do I go with my gut? What is my gut even saying? Maybe I'll just go watch High School Musical 3 again. For the fourth time this week.

What do you do when you don't have the motivation to work on your novel?