April 2024
Persistence pays off. But how do we keep going?
As someone reminded me, the cream does not necessarily rise to the top. For many of us, our best work will never have the reach we want it to, but Artists Gonna Art. So how do we keep going?
Here are a few things I remember when I can’t see the rocks for the trees. (I hold two degrees in geology. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I check my attitude. It can be everything. It’s important to keep a good one and manage your expectations. It can also be important to take your temperature throughout the process to determine what parts you enjoy and what parts you wish you could delegate. Because let’s face it, there will be no delegating. We will push through the rough patches, remember how bad it sucked, and cringe when we think of doing it again. But now we know. And we can prepare for how we tackle that part of the process next time.
Switch my focus. ‘I only work on one project at a time and don’t start anything new until I finish,’ said no one ever. Because the truth is we’re always starting new projects even if that project is getting dinner on the table for your family. It just has a different timeline. Sometimes we need to start and finish a project to remind ourselves we can.
Take a break. If you’ve run up against a brick wall, instead of giving yourself a headache, give yourself a break. As important as it is to keep going, knowing when to take a step back is just as important. It may be a good time to circle back to the beginning and reevaluate. As artists, we might imagine the finished product or, at least, the feeling we’ll have when it’s completed. Sometimes what we end up with looks nothing like what we had in mind. How different will the finished product look from what you expected? Are you alright with that? Or is now an opportunity to course correct?
Remember, the important thing is that you keep going.
What I’ve been up to: Writing. Well, rewriting. I’m revising the third Dragoneer book while I wait for edits from my other publisher on the second Werewolf book. I also have 10k words of a rough draft of the third Werewolf book somewhere around here.
Granny Squares - I finished all 120 squares! Now I have to figure out how to put them together. Pinwheels? Or just half-triangle the whole thing? Laying out the squares helped me realize I needed to make about twelve more. Not because I couldn’t math, but because I was not fond of how the colors came together.
What I’ve been reading:
These three I listened to. A Bad Day for Sunshine and A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones were laugh-at-loud funny in places while very serious crimes were being investigated and serious stuff going on. (I started listening to the third one today.) The Beekeeper’s Apprentice had its moments as well, but they were fewer and far between. Still, if you’ve ever wanted more Sherlock Holmes in your life, check this one out. It’s the first in a series, which I didn’t know. (I’m super happy when I start at the beginning. See below.) It looks as though in later books the heroine and Sherlock get married. I don’t know how I feel about that.
The Last Chance Library gave me Clare Pooley vibes in a good way and was a standalone. The Paper Magician was the first in a series I will be sure to continue. Take A Hint, Dani Brown was the second of a trilogy I know I want to finish. I messed up with Nonna Maria and the Case of the Stolen Necklace - it’s the second in the series and I didn’t read the first. I’m so disappointed in myself. At First Spite looks like the first in a series by Olivia Dade that I will have to read more of. The Drowning Woman was a book club pick. Not sure I would have picked it up otherwise, but it surprised me in a good way. And finally, The Sentence is Death was the first sequel in a series by Anthony Horowitz where he’s written himself into the story. Like most of the others, I’ll probably get around to picking up the next one at some point.
I’ll leave you with this little reminder from my wall calendar for April.
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