The above picture is of Mt. Montreux in Switzerland where there’s an annual walk or run race. I took the challenge this summer and climbed 10k (about 6 miles). I put one foot in front of the other, put on my determined face and crawled (um, climbed) up that mountain. Around km 7, I doubted myself but kept pushing. By the time I reached the finish line, I was amazingly tired and proud of myself. For me, hiking up Montreux was a small victory.
In writing news, I’ve finally finished the round of edits I’d been working on since March. Another small victory.
Now that End of Faith is going out to betas, I don’t have to read or think about it for at least a few weeks. I know this sounds weird, but I desperately needed some distance from my book. I love it, but every writer needs their “space” at one point or another.
There were definitely moments when I doubted my ability to finish the book and I say finish with a slight grin on my face, since we all know the word “finish” in writer language incites mad laughter. During my time away from my novel, I’ll be beta reading too and I’ve got a few books on my shelf calling my name. Oh and I’ll be working on my query and synopsis and building that To-Query list. So I guess there’s not that much distance between me and my novel after all.
Question for the day: What are you recent small victories whether related to writing or not?
15 comments:
Congrats on making it (on the walk AND on the revisions)! Wow, that is amazing, and the picture is breathtaking.
I hope you're proud!
Some amazing accomplishments. Congratulations! I had a recent accomplishment like yours, I climbed Gray's Peak in Colorado, 14,000 feet. Beautiful. And I finished the first edit of my story and sent it to my CP's.
Congrats on it all.
I made it into work today. That's a small victory every morning.
And my badge still works. Victory #2.
;)
I once again avoided caffeine, and have been more or less caffeine-sober since about October of 2009.
Maybe these are too small.
A couple of weekends ago I backpacked with an Army Ranger into the East Texas woods and managed to keep up with him. Not as huge as the mountains, but there was some elevation, and we had to pack in our water in 100deg F weather. We hiked about 4mi in for a base camp, and day-hiked about 10 miles.
Not too shabby for a near-40 civilian with a bad back, crackling left knee, and a right shoulder/arm with nerve damage!
- Eric
Congrats on the small victory, Crimey. Thanks for the photo. I brought my wife over to take a look.
In terms of small victories, I was just thinking about how things have changed in one year's time. I found a publisher and had my debut published as an e-book. It is currently being formatted for paperback. I am now blogging for Wicked Writers, as well as my own. Lastly, my book caught the attention of a local on-line magazine, so now I am writing articles for them, too. It has been an amazing wave to be riding.
Thanks for asking. Good luck and much success to you.
...climbing your mountain is much the same as finishing up that novel. There's always that voice inside, The Doubter, whispering how we'll never achieve our goals. Never reach the summit.
I believe that's when we search within ourselves and figure out who we really are. Do we quit and roll with the punches, or do we battle on and defy the odds?
Congrats on both, Crimey. Well deserved:)
Wow, I just looked at the picture of the mountain and was exhausted!
Congratulations for finishing, both the edits and the mountain walk. That's fantastic news.
I'm trying to finish my wip before Labor Day but have to get off the blog to do it. So....
Revisions are the worst part of writing. Now, you've survived it, reward yourself.
Even Stephen King needs distance from his recently written books.
Good fortune in your publication dreams, Roland
Congrats on your victories! They sound pretty big to me! My most recent victory was getting CINDERS out into the world, and now that it's being read and reviewed, I'm kind of stoked that it REALLY IS finished. Talk about a rush!
Good luck with your break!
Congrats on your victories! (And should I expect your fabulous-o MS in my inbox SOON?)
My crit partner gave me pages back with NO changes. None. Zippo. She seemed stressed about it, like she wasn't doing her job but I was doing a happy dance. This is a definite victory for me!
Dawn,
I thought I sent it to you already. I've had too many glasses of wine again, I believe. Check your e-mail.
p.s. getting an crit with no changes is like awesomeness at it's fullest.
Wow - gorgeous! Congrats!
I guess my big challenge lately has been to believe in myself. I've been having a mini-crisis!
Finishing Killing Kessler and getting it out to betas (like you!) is definitely a small victory I'm celebrating. I'm really enjoying End of Faith!
Two impressive accomplishments. I love the photograph. Good luck with your critiques and edits.
My accomplishment? Hanging in there. I've finished edits and have begun querying.
And thanks for the sidebar link!
Congrats on the completion of your book. It's not weird to need a vacation from it; it's necessary!
It's also a great time to get caught up on reading especially if books are calling your name. Now, if they're shouting it, do those get read 1st? :)
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