IWSG: Doing the Thing That Scares You

A couple months ago, I did something. Something big. Something scary. Something I have always wanted to do.

I bought a ticket to Europe.

Not as part of a group tour, or a cruise. A single, solitary, one-way ticket to Amsterdam.

The moment I confirmed the purchase, my stomach fell straight to my toes. What was I doing? Who did I think I was, planning a solo trip thousands of miles away from home? I wasn't that brave!

Here's a secret, though: I AM that brave.

We all are.

Life, I have come to learn, is often choosing to do the thing that scares you. It's not easy, and there are a million reasons NOT to do it, but what's the worst that could happen?

Given, of course, that the thing that scares YOU is not, like, committing murder or jumping off a high-rise. DON'T do those things. They're scary for a reason.

But buying a ticket to Europe? Applying for a job you really want? Asking that cute dude out that you see every day at the coffee shop (probably not for coffee, though)? Yes. Do those things.

Moments after buying my ticket.

Because the worst that could happen is that you fail. You get lost in the streets of Florence. You don't get the job. The cute dude says no. You're still okay.

This applies to writing, as well. A book idea that scares you might turn out to be the best thing you've ever written. Joining a writing group could earn you some new friends (and writer friends are the best) and maybe some solid advice. And self-publishing the book babies you've put your heart and soul into for years...

Okay. That last one is super scary, no matter how much optimism I sprinkle over it.

But, just like that ticket to Amsterdam, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do the thing that scares me. Because what's a life spent sitting on the sidelines while others chase their dreams?

What scares YOU (writing-wise or not)?

IWSG: Revision-Induced Terror

The first Wednesday of every month is reserved for Insecure Writers Support Group (unless I forget). In these posts, I write about my insecurities as a writer. Make sure to check out all the wonderful bloggers participating!

Revisions.

Edits.

Rewrites.

These words are currently the makings of my writerly nightmare.

Here’s the deal: I am about half through writing the third book in my series. Which means I’m about 40k words or a couple months (whichever comes first) away from having three books to revise.

Three.

What. Was. I. Thinking?

Me, being scared.

When I made the decision to forge ahead with book three, it seemed like a good idea. Get all the details in place, I thought. Continuity is magic, right?

Don’t get me wrong, I like revising. I like turning something messy and cobbled together into a cohesive, smooth, pretty story. It’s fun for me. Unless I’m looking at nothing BUT that for an extended period of time.

I’m not exactly sure how to go about it. I’ve rewritten plenty of times. Hell, I rewrote the same book for years and years. Now, I have (or will have) three solid drafts that don’t need rewrites, just revisions. And it’s scary.

Super scary. 

So. How do you revise? Do you have a method? A process? A trick up your sleeve? Are you hands-on, with printed pages in front of you, or do you prefer doing everything on your computer?

I’m all ears, lovely folks. I need all the help I can get.

Crazy Little Thing Called Life

Life is crazy, you guys. Everything can change from day to day to day. The last year and a half of my life should have taught me that. Even still, I find myself being surprised by how much can change.

If this sounds ominous, it's not meant to. These most recent changes are all good ones, I swear.

First up, I withdrew from school. I'm only nine classes away from my Bachelor's degree, but throughout my first class, I found myself overwhelmed and unenthusiastic. I didn't want to take the class, and there were a billion things I could have been doing instead. And then the wheels started turning:

"Why am I doing this?"

"Do I really need this degree?"

"Do I want to put myself even further into debt for a degree I might not even need?"

"Why am I putting so much time and energy into this when I could be writing?"

It was the last question that struck me the hardest. I know I've mentioned a lot just how much writing I've been getting done lately, how much better that writing has gotten. How I feel like something has finally clicked into place. Did I really want to shove all that aside for something that didn't make me nearly as happy as the writing?

The answer: not even a little bit.

So, I withdrew from school.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't questioning myself. Years of hard work, student loans galore, only 9 classes to go. Why not just finish? Why put something as LOGICAL as school aside to focus on something as ILLOGICAL as writing? Shouldn't I be a grown up and make the responsible decision?

I can always re-enroll later. There is no guarantee that the writing will come as smoothly at a later time. The muse is a fickle bitch. I...I don't know. I have to take some more time with the words. Finish the last book in my first series, clean them all up. I just have to.

There are a couple more big decisions that I've made recently, but I'm not quite ready to talk about them yet. Hint: they're both big and scary and exhilarating and (hopefully) awesome.

To be continued...