Lindsay Harrel, @LindsayHarrel
My husband loves the opera.
I’m more of a musical theater girl myself, but I can appreciate the skill it takes to compose and perform an opera well. Since we’ve been married, Mike has taken me to many operas. My appreciation has grown, even if I still prefer things like Wicked, Oklahoma!, and Hamilton.
Several years ago, Mike checked out from the library the score to Tristan and Isolde, a tragic opera by Wagner. He told me how the entire opera—all four hours of it—is written in unresolved chord progressions. Yikes! Chord progressions almost always resolve, which gives that satisfying feeling at the end of a measure of music, or a song.
I told him I couldn’t imagine sitting through a four-hour opera that had me on the edge of my seat, feeling unsatisfied the entire time! That would be torture to have to wait for that long-awaited resolution.
I don’t even know if I could fully appreciate the beauty of the music since I’d be so focused on reaching the end and feeling that satisfaction I’d been waiting for.
But he said something to me that really stopped me in my tracks: “Wouldn’t that make the satisfaction at the end all the greater because you’d waited for it?”
And suddenly, we weren’t talking about Tristan and Isolde. Suddenly, we were talking about life. About dreams. About all the things we are longing for, that we want to happen now.
Maybe for you, that’s being published (at the time he said it, it was for me!).
The whole interaction got me thinking—how often do I want life to speed along so I can get exactly what I want, now, now, now?
How often in life do I want the reward without having to experience the trials, the hard work, sometimes the heartache it takes to get it?
And how often do I let life slip by without gratitude and appreciation for what I have—because I’m so focused on what’s at the end of the tunnel?
Too often.
Let’s remember—there’s beauty in the wait. And while we wait, we can learn.
Especially when it comes to being an author, I am always striving to learn. I’ve been in this business for almost 10 years now, and it amazes me how much I still don’t know. And it’s easy to allow myself to become overwhelmed by all of that.
But that’s when I need to focus, slow down, and do the next thing. Take the next step toward your goal.
I’m going to outline a few ideas about ways you can spend your time as you wait to get published. Each one will get you closer to that goal, controlling the things YOU can control.
Do you need to improve your craft?
- Take a course. There are a lot of great ones over at Novel.Academy (I highly recommend the Storycrafter Program), so go find something that will help you strengthen an area of writing you’re weak in.
- Read blogs (like this one). Take your time going through them, because remember—there is no timetable, no rushing needed. All good learning takes TIME and PRACTICE and EXPERIENCE.
- Get a critique partner. Don’t spend time critiquing each other’s grammar in these early drafts. Instead, be more concerned with getting feedback on higher-level issues like character change, plot, and deepening emotion.
- Read!!!! I’m one who firmly believes you should be reading in your genre and learning from what other authors are doing.
Need to learn more about the business of writing?
- Join Facebook groups and learn from other authors farther along than you. Ask questions—lots of them! Engage with people who are choosing paths that are different from yours, whether that’s indie, traditional, hybrid, or something else entirely.
- Listen to podcasts. From Novel Marketing to The Creative Penn, there are SO MANY that are extremely helpful. You can pick up little tidbits here and there. I recently got a pair of wireless headphones and started listening to podcasts on my daily walks. It’s been a great motivator to get out there and spend some alone time learning while I exercise.
- Observe what others are doing on social media. Pay attention to the kinds of posts that attract YOUR attention … then go do that!
Need to find more time to write? While we don’t want to rush things, it is sometimes possible to be more efficient with our time management. Here are some thoughts on how:
- Delegate. Give out jobs around your house like Oprah—you get a job, you get a job, you get a job!
- Prioritize. It’s easy to get sucked into all the things we are supposed to be doing as authors, but there are some things that are more important than others. Like, for example, getting words on the page! That trumps posting on social media, in my book, because you can’t have a career without a book.
- Organize. I know, some of you aren’t planners. But while there are many things about the writing life you can’t control (reviews, book deals, etc.), using your time wisely is one thing you CAN. (And if you want some help with that, check out the My Brilliant Writing Planner!)
What is one thing you can be doing RIGHT NOW while you wait for your dream (or your NEXT thing) to happen?
“Follow your dreams” is not her family’s motto.
But this Christmas, Sarah’s doing the unthinkable—defying her wealthy parents.
Instead of fulfilling expected holiday obligations, she visits a quaint English village to help her estranged sister open her dream bakery. And yes, Sarah fully expects things to be awkward between them.
What she doesn’t expect?
Michael Hammett.
The charming British photographer challenges her perspective in more ways than one. Maybe, just maybe, she can choose a life outside of her parents’ control.
But when her father threatens the thing Sarah cares about most, will her newfound perspective be enough—or will living life on her own terms always be a distant dream?
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years, and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. Her debut novel, One More Song to Sing, was a finalist in the 2017 ACFW Carol Awards. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at http://www.LindsayHarrel.com or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.