Are we there yet?

Writing is a strange thing sometimes. The industry is changing every day it seems. Blink an eye and there’s a new publisher in town. One that wants to publish all those fabulous stories you’ve got stored up on your hard drive. Or so you think until you get the rejection in your email.

I’ve been restless lately. I stopped working on my time travel to write a quick down-and-dirty novella (The Coffee Wars) and I’ve found it difficult to get back into the story. Mostly because I’ve realized there isn’t enough conflict to sustain the rest of the novel. So I’m going back to square one and I’ve been working on GMC.

I dread those three letters. (In case you’re wondering, that stands for Goals-Motivation-Conflict. I suck at it.)

Plus I’m still in revision mode for another book that’s been rejected all over the world. I know it’s just the way it goes in this line of work but I can’t help but whine are we there yet?

Instead of throwing my hands in the air and giving up (which is what I want to do) I’m taking a workshop on GMC. I’m also taking a working one setting professional goals (because I suck at that, too). However, I’ve written up the goals I want to achieve for next year and beyond. I’m hoping this next workshop will help me focus and achieve them. I’m fighting through that urge to stop working on something even though that’s really what I want to do. I’ve been printing chapters every night and make revisions. I’ve been working on craft, trying to learn GMC and plotting. I’m trying.

And then there’s the little matter of not having enough hours in the day. This working thing really gets in the way sometimes. 😀 I have so much I have to do besides writing (promo, newsletters, interviews, artwork, chapter work) and I really want to try to make this self-publishing thing work with these short stories. I think it’ll help me figure out how to do better marketing and how to make a little money, too. That’s the hope anyway.

Still, I can’t help but whine.

Are we there yet?