Writing & Goals

Hey Gang.

It's a Friday night, and I thought I would blog real quick and tell you all what's up with the writing thang.

I recently sent a non-fiction piece to a literary magazine, and it's a good chance it will be published. It's not definite, but there is a brightness in the horizon. This is good news; I'm slowly working on doing more creative non-fiction to try to get published in magazines and lit journals so that I can compile some of these pieces into a non-fiction book I'd like to write. This will be my first "literary" publication, so if I get it, it will be great for me, :-)

In addition to that, I'm prepping my thesis, a literary novel titled "The Greyhound Chronicles" for several book award competitions. I've revised/rewrote the book about four times since 2004, and it's as ready as it can be right now. I feel confident in it, so I thought why not try the literary book award track? It's so hard to get literary works published and it seems even harder if you're a black author, so we'll see where these award competitions will get me. If I don't out and out win, perhaps an honorable mention, a third place prize, something acknowledging the book (in a good way) can't be a bad thing!

Let's see, I'm also working on finishing up the synopsis to my latest novel, "To Catch a Cheat." I finished a revision and a query letter, and now I have to wrap the synopsis up. I wrote a List of Works Sheet that keeps me abreast of what works I have completed, which works have submission packages ready to go, which works are in various stages of completion, and which works I have general ideas for. Once I finish the synopsis for TCAC, I will have four novels heavily revised with submission packages. My powerhouse lit rep is about to finish her marketing pitch and will begin barraging every editor in the world on TCAC while I submit Greyhound to book awards and she strategically begins seeking publication for my other projects.

I guess all my rambling is to talk about GOALS, specifically GOALS for WRITING. It is so easy to become discouraged, to think you might get the brass ring only to come into contact with people who don't seem to want to represent you in the correct manner, or people who use your talents to get ahead then discard you, or people who seem to have less talent but manage to not only grab a brass ring, but grab YOURS, too. It's hard. It's devastating. It can break you. If you let it.

I go up and down like the worst rollercoaster; some days I think I have the talent and the fortitude, and some days I just want to realize I'll never make it as a writer and be perfectly happy being a teacher or being SOMETHING else.

TODAY is a day I choose to believe that I CAN write, that I DO have the talent, that I WILL get published. We all need to think that way. We all have to set forth the goals. Today, I'm setting forth the goals.

The goals stated above and the goal to CONTINUE writing. A new idea for a story has been percolating in my mind for about a month, and once I finish the TCAC synopsis and feel confident with it, my mind will be able to flow with this new story.

What I realize through this crazy writing journey is that all I can possible do is continue writing, continue persevering, and continue keeping my goal alive. At some point, the goal will be accomplished...even if I have to knock someone off to do it (lol--j/k--or am I?).