What Is Your End-all Be-all of Writing?

This weekend, we (me, hubster and kiddo{sort of}) did some major yard renovation. We had a small dump truck of topsoil (4 cu. yds) poured in our driveway and two pallets of zoysia grass.

It's one of those things that happens when you've been in a house for over ten years (we've been here 14 years). Stuff starts to happen. Windows start leaking. Carpets need replacing. Roof needs shingled. And trees grow. Trees grow, killing the Bermuda grass because it's too shady, thus the grass thins and nothing holds the dirt in place under the trees when it rains. This equals washout. It doesn't help that we live on the downhill side of four houses, and I'm almost positive there is a natural underground spring uphill because our two next door neighbors needed to have a pump put in their yards.

Life in our backyard was fine and dandy when we moved in. There wasn't anything in the yard except fresh Bermuda sod. No trees. No pool. No pond. NO nothing. So over the years we planted: two oaks, one purple mountain ash, one river birch (remember, natural spring. Lots of water), two loblolly pines. I landscaped. We had the pool put in. I landscaped. Hubster built the pond. I landscaped. Trees grew. I landscaped.

But I couldn't do anything about the runoff issue from the neighbor's yard--that's hubster's department. We have three problem areas. The front yard grass death due to tree, not a drainage issue except that water runs into the backyard, adding to the neighbor's overflowing water and becomes a drainage issue, which is site #2. Site #2 is uphill to our pool and has neighbor's runoff plus two large trees. And yes, in some torrential rains we have had mud wash into the pool... very gross. Site #3 other side of the yard--gutter issues under a large oak (remember, no grass=total washout).

Hubster had to put in a drainage system. Yeah, yeah, some of it runs into the downhill neighbor's yard, but what can you really do?? And we have one drain leading onto the school property at the back of the yard.

On Saturday, we had dirt and sod delivered bright and early. Slaving most of the day, we succeeded in downing a case of Gatorade and shoveled all the dirt and laid all the sod.

If you didn't know about the labor, you would only wonder about the line of dark topsoil in the yard. To the uneducated eye it looks like a line of dirt.

And what does this have to do with writing? And trust me, I could have used a horse analogy, too, but I'll save that for another day.

For the most part, instant gratification/success isn't going to happen overnight.
You know you put in the hard labor. You know the improvements your writing has taken since your first attempt to write a novel.

But no one else in the publishing business knows the road you've traveled.

They are comparing your writing to something that is already published. You may have improved, but you haven't reached that level of saleability yet.

So do what's a writer to do?

Make your personal goals something achievable. Don't let someone dictate what makes you happy, but also be realistic. None else will pat you on the back and tell you what a great job you're doing, so it's up to you to do it yourself.

Our yard looks green. That's it. But I know that we put in eight hours of hard labor to make it that way. It makes me happy--and that's all that matters.

Does what you are writing do that for you? If it makes you happy then that's all that really matters isn't it? Publishing is the icing on the cake, not the end-all be-all of writing, but writing because it makes you happy is.

Write on!

Don't Write What You Know--Write Your Passion!

This last weekend I was writing to condense my five page synopsis into a two page synopsis. The one thing I noticed about myself in this process was that I ACTUALLY liked going over this story again.

--and I can honestly say that hasn't been the case with all my stories.

In May 2008, my writing life changed. I wrote my first picture book/easy reader story. It's called Peter's Messy Room. Peter is a fly, not a regular run-of-the-mill house fly, but a green bottle fly living in the country. Peter changed my focus as a writer. In this last year, I've written seven other Peter stories, one faerie story--The Faerie Who Lost His Wings, and one middle grade story--MISSING: One Garden Gnome.

I love all these stories, and enjoy revisiting each and every one of them. I could NEVER say that about my romances. Oh, they were okay, but there was always something about them that I couldn't put my finger on, some problem that I couldn't fix, something about them made me cringe and want to put them away . . . forever.

The missing element in those stories was passion.

Oh, I liked writing them. And I certainly love reading them. But I wasn't passionate about my writing romances. I never felt the need as a writer to make certain the characters had their HEA (Happily Ever After). Oh, I finished the story with the requisite HEA, but I didn't want to look at those stories again--still don't.

My writing was missing that one elusive spark that makes it stand out.

Many editors and agents will tell a newbie writer to write what you know. Writing to the current market is crazy since the new books hitting the shelf were bought one to two years ago. I can't write what I know because in the real world unicorns, gnomes, and faeries don't exist, though this lovely environmental artist , Sally J. Smith, might change your mind! What I can write about is my passion. I have a passion for fantasy intermingling with real life. I love escapism in books that I read and in movies that I watch. Real life is depressing. I want to experience fun and happiness when I escape, and that is what I want to bring to the reader.

--A chance to escape into a new world and experience new and fantastical creatures.

Oh, gotta go. Rory Leafhopper, esquire, First Gnome to the Princess of Celestia, wants a refill on his coffee and I'm the only one big enough to handle the eye dropper without scalding myself.

Write on!