How to Grow Writer’s Skin

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editing, Fiction Writing, Inspiration, publishing, Roberta Trahan, submissions, writers, Writing, writing community, writing life, Writing tips

“A Writer’s Ink” by Norman Duenas

Years ago, in a Twitter exchange, writer Kevin R Hill commented that many great books might never see light of day because the authors were not tough enough to stand against years of rejections. How true, I replied, and the idea of “writer’s skin” came up. We should coin a phrase, Kevin said – writer’s skin, the thick layer that protects tender hearts.

If only one could buy writer’s skin ready-made, I said, like a magical cloak or suit of armor, instead of having to grow it from the inside out. Yes, if only. But as it turns out we all must cultivate our own thick layer of protection.

Today, like that day, I happen to be suffering from some of the soul-wounding that all writers must endure. Although knowing that this ritual scarring is an unavoidable test of author-hood helps you prepare for the battle, it does nothing at all to stop or even slow the blood-letting. Kevin’s tweet reminded me then and now that this uncomfortable truth was universal – that I was not alone. And neither are you.

To help you get a good start, here are some tips for growing a healthy, hardy sheath of writer’s skin:

Start with a Rich Growth Medium that has been fortified with equal measures of patience, persistence, and perseverance, and is resistant to infiltrations of noxious weeds like self-doubt, jaded perspective and bitterness.

Sow Only the Highest Quality Seeds by selecting the most unique and well-formed ideas for cultivation. This will help to ensure that your writer’s skin is fashioned from the strongest creative fibers.

Water Frequently from the deepest wells of knowledge and most trusted fountains of inspiration. Avoid shallow, stagnant ponds and shark infested pools.

Fertilize As Needed with only the highest quality, well-credentialed experience you can find. Choose carefully – there are a lot of low budget brands out there that promise plenty but deliver little results.

Be sure to harvest your writer’s skin before the beginning of the submission season, and wear it whenever you venture out. This should help to shield you from the harsher elements.

Remember, writer’s skin is susceptible to normal wear and tear and that frequent use will erode its protective qualities. Therefore, it must be replaced periodically. While writer’s skin tends not to flourish in intemperate climates, it is a self-sustaining renewable resource and can be grown almost anywhere and at any time by constructing a green-house like environment that recreates the favorable conditions mentioned above.

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If at First You Don’t Succeed – Try, try Again (aka Fall Down 9 Times, Get Up 10)

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creative process, Goal setting, Idyll Curiosities, Inspiration, Lit Chicks Editorial, NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing, process oriented, results oriented, word count goals, Writing, writing advice

I look forward to the Fall season every year. For me, this is the time of year when I feel most inspired to invest in new ideas or make a new start. A sort of anxious, anticipatory energy bubbles up and spurs me to take big risks. The momentum usually carries over into the new year, and then, often fizzles out.

Sometimes there are just too many obstacles and I don’t have the resources – emotional, physical, spiritual, creative, or financial – to keep running over or around them. Sometimes life events create a fork in the road and the bypass takes me so far off the original path I never find my way back.

And yet, every year, I start again. That’s the definition of crazy, right – doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results? Yeah, well, we creative types be crazy.

They say that writers fall into on of two categories when it comes to goal setting – those who are results oriented, and those who are process oriented. Results oriented folks derive their sense of satisfaction from completion.

They are focused on outcome, and can produce a sizable body of work. But, while they always finish a project, they sometimes do so at the expense of the process. Sometimes, the work they produce lacks quality or isn’t as rich in detail as it could be.

Process oriented folks are focused on the task and glean great joy from the act of creation itself. They tend to produce less, but their results are generally richer in content. Although the work tends to be layered with nuance and is often highly polished, process oriented writers struggle with bringing a project full circle. They tend to get caught up relishing the scene and have a hard time finishing the story.

It has taken me years to own it, but I am a process oriented writer. I get so excited by the prospect of a new idea that I have a hard time keeping my head in the project that is already on the table. I get lost in the rituals of writing. I love research and plotting, and imagining the possibilities. Basically, I get in my own way.

So, this fall season, I am going to throw myself into the process like I always do, but this time see all my new endeavors through to the end – whatever the outcome may be. I’m feeding all my muses this year and I’ve got a lot of projects on the board – a new side business at Lit Chicks Editorial, a new online venture called Idyll Curiosities that resells vintage jewelry, and at least 3 new books to complete. I’m really stretching my limits here.

One of the things I need to do is figure out how to get more words out of my head and onto the page. So this year, for the first time ever, I’m going to take the 2016 NaNoWriMo challenge. Anyone with me? Have you done it before? I’d be interested in hearing how it worked out for you.

So, how many of you are results oriented writers? How many of you are process oriented? Have you figured out how to strike a balance between the two?  I’d love to know.

 

 

 

 

 

Ode to Autumn

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autumn, Fantasy, Inspiration, Poetry, Roberta Trahan, Rutger Hauer, sarah chorn, Writing

I recycle this post every Fall. Even after all these years it still speaks for me. Autumn has always been my favorite season.

This piece was selected by the actor Rutger Hauer for his Soap Box Poets page long ago, and still resides there…

(image courtesy of Sarah Chorn Photography)

Simple Pleasures

 

Ordinarily,

I would never

 

Hold rain-washed river rock

just to feel the cool smoothness

of edges dulled by merciless scrubbing,

 

Breathe frost laced fog vapor

just to see icy mist crystals

hanging in the sky melt from my warmth,

 

Follow wind swept maple leaves

just to watch them scatter randomly

in complicated dances across the road,

 

Stand rooted to the sidewalk

just to taste coffee essence, French roast,

served on the breeze outside a café,

 

Or smile at strangers rushing past me

just to acknowledge the hue and grain

they have added to the landscape of my day.

 

Ordinarily,

I would take the bus.

 

copyright 2008 Roberta Trahan, all rights reserved.

30 Days & Counting – My First Guest Blog & Other Book Launch News

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47North, Amazon Publishing, author marketing, Blogging, fantasy fiction, Inspiration, Library Journal, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, The Qwillery, The Well of Tears, Writing

Only one more month until the official release of THE WELL OF TEARS: Book One of The Dream Stewards (47North)! Have you reserved your copy yet?

I am proud to announce that today I am blogging over at The Qwillery – one of my favorite speculative fiction blogs. THE WELL OF TEARS is part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge.

The discussion is centered on the debate over character vs. story driven novels – and there’s an exclusive excerpt from the book! Come on over and join the conversation, and sign up to take part in the DAC!

You also might spend some time checking out all the other amazing authors and books – you are sure to find some excellent additions for your TBR pile (after you finish my book, of course)…

 

 

Other big news this week was the release of Library Journal’s Genre Spotlight edition, in which THE WELL OF TEARS is named a “promising debut”. The article is a revealing overview of SFF trends, and includes some fabulous reading recommendations! You can read the article here:  Hungry for SF: Genre Crossovers Retain Fans and Attract New Readers 

More news to come soon, including contests (with prizes) and an invitation to my online book launch party. You can keep up with all the excitement right here, or join me on Facebook or Twitter (click on the icons in the sidebar –>).

I will also be updating my website with my calendar of upcoming events – conference appearances, book signing events, blog tour stops, and more.

Wake up & Smell the Coffee!

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Coffee & Writing, Inspiration, Novel Writing, Poetry, Roberta Trahan, Writing

For me, the first of October marks the turn of the seasons. I’m a little strange, I guess, because I look forward to autumn and spring the way most people look forward to the summer months. The anticipation begins long before the first leaf turns, and by the time the date arrives I am almost giddy. My coffee even tastes better this morning!

I realized the other day that every novel I’ve written is set at the onset of autumn and resolves with the arrival of spring. This was not at all intentional, and must be a reflection of my own seasonal rhythms, perhaps some subconscious testament to my feelings about the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Intersting how these personal ideals and philosophies weave themselves so subtlely into the fabric of the story.

This little poem says it best, at least for me:
https://robertatrahan.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/ode-to-autumn/

Auld Lang Syne

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Coffee & Writing, Coffee Quote, Happy New Year, Inspiration, Roberta Trahan, The Writing Life, Writing

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure, measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, how do you measure, a year in the life?

—excerpted from “Seasons of Love” (soundtrack for the motion picture RENT), lyrics by Jonathan D Larson)

Coffee Quote of the Month — June 2009

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Coffee & Writing, Coffee Quote, Inspiration, Roberta Trahan

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.

–Dave Barry

Inspiration, Education & Opportunity

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Inspiration, Novel Writing, Roberta Trahan, writing life, Writing tips

Like everyone else, every January I sit down and evaluate my writing career (or lack thereof), and set new goals based on three critical objectives–inspiration, education, and opportunity.  

Ideally, every writing task and commitment I enter into will in some way motivate my creativity, help me learn something new about my craft or the publishing world, and bring me a new opportunity for success. In fact, every class I am asked to teach, workshop I attend or present, or business venture I accept, must first meet one or all of these objectives. 

For 2009, I have underscored one of the goals that is on my list every year–invest in community.

Writing is by it’s very nature a solitary enterprise.  This is a truth that all writers acknowledge and accept, with a sigh. Unlike other crafts or trades, writer’s lack a ready made, easily identifiable and accessible herd of like-minded individuals with whom to collaborate, commiserate, and cohort. 

Community, however, is a valuable resource to the creative sould.  Some of the most profound inspiration, best nurturing, and lucrative opportunities I have ever received have come to me as a result of my associations with other writers.  Who else could better understand my paranoia, psychosis, and other idiosyncracies? And, somewhat surprisingly, I have also discovered that my writer’s identity and career is equally enriched by the support I am able to offer to others.

Over the years I have participated in critique groups, joined writer’s associations, helped to organize literary events, donated my time to industry trade shows, and served on the boards of writing programs at various educational institutions.

From these activities I have developed wonderful relationships which continue to hold me up and help me through the dark night of the writers block, reassure me that publication is NOT an impossible dream, and encourage me to go where no writer has gone before. 

This year I am adding genre writing groups to my list, groups like SFF and RWA, for example. How about you?

Like Water for Chocolate

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Chocolate, Coffee, Inspiration, Roberta Trahan, Writing

As is true of most creative people, I have muses–sources from which inspiration, or at least a burst of metaphysical energy, springs.  Take caffeine, for instance. 

Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes in my company knows that I am a coffee-a-holic.  It is the lifeblood, the elixir of many comforts.  I am also, being from the Seattle area, a coffee snob.  No canned grounds for me.  Nope.  Must have organic, shade grown, fair trade, small batch, dark roasted beans.  Fresh drip, French press, or Barista brewed.

With one teensy weensy new wrinkle.

I recently discovered that tasty treats can indeed come in a can.  Quelle suprise! Who would have thought I would find such joy in a premixed powdered concotion? As unlikely as it sounds, General Foods International Coffees has brought forth ambrosia of the instant kind.  I give thee Dark Mayan Chocolate.

Orgasmic. Exotic. Sweet, and Spicy. Everything that is Caffeine enhanced with the euphoria of Chocolate. Ah, bliss.  ‘Tis my new afternoon delight–the dusky sylph that awakens my brain from its 3 o’clock coma and brings forth the creativity spirits.

   Woman does not live by coffee alone.  Have a chocolate. 
~Author Unknown