For the Indie Author

I know I don't talk about Indie publishing as much as I used to. The truth is I fell out of the game when I got pregnant with kid number two back in 2013. I just couldn't keep up, and the landscape changed SO MUCH after this.

Things were hectic, so I've really just focused on writing. 

However, it's not lost on me that:

1) self-published authors can still build an audience and make good money, and

2) more traditionally published authors are going "hybrid" and self publishing some of their works.

I've said it before and I still believe this: it's a great time to be a writer.

Because of this, some encouragement I've posted here before deserves repeating:

First, ebooks are forever.

Second, you never know which ebook you publish will take off.
 Keep writing them. Lots of them.

Third, you never know when an ebook will 

come back around and surprise you.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Throwback: On Writer's Block

This post originally appeared on the blog in Nov. 2014

It was like I woke up one morning and it was GONE.

It came out of nowhere--this not knowing.

Where this story was heading.

The words I needed to tell it.

All. Gone.

And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find them. The words I did find I couldn't make work.

It went beyond "spewing crap," which I encourage every writer to do, even when it's hard: just get something on paper.

I couldn't even spew crap, and it was one of the worst feelings ever, because I AM writing, and writing is ME: we are not one without the other. And at the time I honestly didn't think I would ever get past this block.

Writer's Block

I've been blocked before--sure. I'm a writer. It comes with the territory. But being pregnant with my second kid brought more than just a block. Before, whenever I was stuck, I could do what all good writers suggest and it would work:

Take a break. Read a book. Take a nap. Work on another project. Go for a walk. Movie binge. Go back to the last place everything "worked" and take a different route. . . .

All sound advice.

But what do you do when you're pregnant and puking your guts out every morning, on vitamins and Unisom to make it through the day, and you Just Can't Write?

I knew I needed to get as much written as possible before the baby came, because I would be worthless the first few months after he was born (at the very least), but every time I tried the session would end in anger and frustration and tears. I would write for "hours" with only a few sentences or a paragraph to show for it. 

So I gave up. I put the laptop away. I quit.

I felt like such a failure.

I worried I would be forgotten--that, by the time I was able to publish again people would have moved on. 

I felt incomplete.

So I started drawing--something I've always enjoyed, but never really made time for. And it helped. The block, it seems, only divided the "word" part of my brain from my fingers. Everything else seemed to work just fine.

Drawing became my outlet. My release. It kept me centered. Sane.

Until the baby was born and I was too exhausted to even care about making up stories. Until the holidays passed. Until I started to feel more like myself--still sleep-deprived, but more able to deal with it all. Until one day I picked up my laptop and opened the file. . . .

Here, I confirmed rather quickly that yes--everything I'd tried to add to my story while pregnant was utter crap.

And I fixed it. I removed and reworded.

I was back.

And now I'm here to remind you that this, too, shall pass--whatever it is you're dealing with right now. Whatever is keeping you from giving 100% to your writing or your passion: the block doesn't last forever. 

There are unfortunate realities--realities we have no control over. It's better to just admit that they exist and move on from there. We can't change the reality, but we can choose our attitude--how we deal with it. 

Fact: I had to stop writing for a while. 

It was upsetting, yes, but I began to see it as an opportunity to focus my attention elsewhere. I had to realize that "failing" at writing for all those months didn't make me a failure as a person. 

What's most important is that I learned from the experience and returned at the appointed time. 

And you will, too.

That is all.  :D

~Katie~

A Conversation

Mr. Klein: What are you doing?

Me: (typing maniacally) Writing.

Mr. Klein: But I thought you said you quit. You were crying. You said it's over, that you give up.

Me: Never.

See Also: On Quitting :D

~Katie~

On Being You

"This, I believe, is the great Western truth: that each of us is a completely unique creature and that, if we are ever to give any gift to the world, it will have to come out of our own experience and fulfillment of our own potentialities, not someone else's" (pg 186).

and

 
"You can't have creativity unless you leave behind the bounded, the fixed, all the rules" (pg 194).

(Am reading: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell)

~:|:~

The takeaways?

1. You are unique.
2. You have something to offer the world.
3. This gift comes from your own potential and experiences.
4. In order to share this gift (as you're meant to do), you may have to break some rules.

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~

Good Characters

I watched a movie called Bravetown a couple of weeks ago on Hulu. Lately, I find myself analyzing story structure and characters as I'm watching movies, I think to figure out where, exactly, I'm going wrong with my current WIP.

It was a good movie, overall. Sure, there were some conveniences (all of a sudden the dance team is super awesome just because of one DJ's tracks?) and some stilted dialogue (make sure the mom tells the son she never wanted him before he goes away). And the dance scenes weren't even needed, really, except that it's something to bring a small town affected by war together.
 
But the character development was on point for me.

Teen DJ who overdoses then is sent to live with the dad he's never met? Could've been a total asshole, yet he was a genuinely good guy. Not perfect, but he wasn't rude or mean to anyone on purpose, even the nerd. . . . It was kind of refreshing, actually.

A mom who's dealing with the combat death of her son? Could've been overdone, but there's a perfect balance between mom who's trying to keep the memory of her oldest alive and still be present for her other kids, even if she's failing miserably.

The local shrink dealing with his own PTSD? I loved that he'd rather watch soccer and eat pizza than talk about anyone's problems (especially his own). Plus, Josh Duhamel isn't exactly hard on the eyes.

A+ for good characters, a couple of tearful moments, and a hopeful ending.

~Katie~

This Is Our Story

"Anyone writing a creative work knows that you open, you yield yourself, and the book talks to you and builds itself. To a certain extent, you become the carrier of something that is given to you from what has been called the Muses. . . . Since the inspiration comes from the unconscious, and since the unconscious minds of the people of any single small society have much in common, what the shaman or seer brings forth is something that is waiting to be brought forth in everyone. So when one hears the seer's story, one responds 'Aha! This is my story. This is something that I had always wanted to say but wasn't able to say'" (pg 71).

Am Reading: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

On Black Moments

"One thing that comes out in myths, for example, is that at the bottom of the abyss comes the voice of salvation. The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light" (pg 46).

Am reading: The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

~:|:~

I love the idea of this--that the darkest moments of our lives are the most revealing (and, in many ways, the most necessary).

Because we don't often have those life-changing revelations when things are going well, do we? Nope. It's when shit hits the fan that we start to re-think our priorities. The direction we're heading. Our motives. Where we want to be this time next year. 

Hitting rock bottom is never fun, but if we're willing use that "black moment" to learn and grow, big changes can happen in our lives.

This is true for every "black moment" I've ever experienced. Also? They don't last forever.

It's always darkest before the dawn. :)

Be Brilliant!

~Katie~