June 2023 Musings

June 2023 Musings

Your Dream
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Happy June, friends! Summer will arrive this month, and I hope you have something fun planned! Here at my house, our homeschool year is wrapping up. I’ve been slicing cold, juicy watermelon for my kids every afternoon, which is a sure sign of summertime!

This month, I’ve been musing about ways to encourage those of you who dream of being a published author someday. My message is for anyone who feels a little worn out and could use some inspiration to keep going. All of these suggestions truly helped me persevere for years, especially when I felt the most hopeless. I pray that you will find something useful, or at least find joy in the knowledge that you are definitely not alone!

5 Ways to Keep Your Dream of Being a Published Author Alive:

1. Focus on friendship: Good writing friends are like a clear, cool river you find on your publishing journey just when you need refreshment the most. Just like when you stop to splash some icy water on your face to re-energize and keep going during a hike, your writing buddies will be right there with you to cheer you on, pick you up when you fall and eventually celebrate your wins. Writing groups can be a huge support, and if you’re an introvert like me you may have fun joining the writing community on Twitter. I found my tribe there, and I love my writing friends. You will find encouragement and camaraderie and learn so much about the business of publishing. When you start to wonder if your dream is unrealistic, a good writing friend will link arms with you and you’ll go on together.
2. Be a part of the bookish world: If writing friends are like a cool, refreshing river on your publishing journey, then being a part of the bookish world is like coming off of a dark trail and stepping into a meadow full of sunlight and fellow hikers. Reading will always improve your writing, and spending time with other book lovers can help you stay excited and inspired. Being a part of a book club or a writer’s group, watching BookTube videos, and reading and reviewing books on Goodreads or your own blog are just a few of the many ways you can immerse yourself in the magical world of books and keep your publishing dream alive.
3. Throw your hat in the ring: I know it’s hard, and I understand that getting your work out into the world is scary, but there will come a time when you must be fearless. You won’t be able to find those refreshing rivers or those sunlit meadows if you don’t begin your journey in the first place. It’s the difference between looking at nature pictures online, compared to stepping outside your door and finding that trail where the scented breeze flows over you and the birds sing all around you and you feel ALIVE. If you’re a writer, then somewhere there are readers who will need to be able to find your work.You can learn so much through query critiques, reader comments and suggestions, editorial feedback, and yes, even those dreaded rejections. All of these will make your writing stronger and keep your dream of being published alive, because you will be making progress on your journey. Take that first step out your door and see what fun adventure awaits you!​
4. Embrace alternative paths: Wouldn’t life be boring if there was only one path leading in one direction and you could never veer off of it no matter how much you longed to? What if you want to hike toward the waterfall? Or in the opposite direction toward the sweeping view? The fun lies in having those choices, and going where your heart leads you. Similarly, there are different paths along your publishing journey, and any one of them may feel just right to you! Many of my writer friends have fulfilling careers in self-publishing, and others have taken the traditional publishing route. Another option is to publish with a small press. This is the path I have taken with my debut YA, and I couldn’t be happier. All of these alternatives can be studied in depth, but it is inspiring just to know that they exist, and that one or more of them may support your dream. Your words will find their way!
5. Good old-fashioned stubbornness: Every journey has roadblocks. All moms can confirm that       when you plan a vacation for your family and are finally on your way, one or more of your children will get very sick. No children? Then the car will break down. However, if you expect roadblocks, the less likely they will be to derail your whole journey. If you keep going, you will still end up with the photos and happy memories. There will be roadblocks on your publishing journey as well, and it would take another whole blog post to list all of the ones you have likely encountered, from agent rejections to that pesky little voice in your head telling you that you will never be good enough. This is where being stubborn will help you go on because to be stubborn means to have dogged determination. Of course if you find yourself overwhelmed and needing to take a step back and rest, then it’s okay to do just that. But if you want to go on, then being stubborn can help you send out another query when you receive a rejection, or write that next manuscript. This month, I hope you find a fun way to keep your dream of being published alive. Have an incredible journey! 

     Love, 
     Stac