You Only Got Three Choices

"You only got three choices in life: give up, give in, or give it all you've got."

Kim Garst

          Pursuing a career in writing you have to choose one of the three mentioned above. We face each choice at one time or another. Maybe all of them at the same time. Life is weird like that. I've given up, for a period of time. I've given in, to the terms my beloved first manuscript will most likely never make it to a hard back cover. I'm giving it all I've got. Starting right here with this blog. I'm a firm believer in practicing your craft. (It could also be that I simply love writing.) Listen not one person whose "made it" will tell you it came easy.  But what most will tell you is, they gave it their all.

          Keep your pen up! 

All We Need

"Be happy in each moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more." 
       -Mother Teresa 

Profound words from a profound woman of wisdom. Can you imagine the life this woman lived? I would have loved to sit with her a spell and soak it all in. It would take years to learn just one little thing this person did so effortlessly. 
Lets backtrack a tad before we get into the meat of this one. 
As an American we are taught at a very young age to thrive on instant gratification and surplus. We take a lot of things for granite because of our driven mentality. We are the essence of "more is better". Greedy. Selfish. (I'm speaking in a general sense, just hang in there). 
So the question is how can we apply this to our writing?
Simple. Relish each and every moment you write. Savor it as if you would never again get to write. Be profound. Make the words you spill from head mean more than ever before. Enjoy writing like you did before it became an overwhelming task. We've all been there and we're all on the journey together. Keep your pen up and enjoy the hard work you do in choosing each word.

Big Plans

<Make big plans, but change your plans as time changes>

Welp. We're done here. Time to go back to your regularly scheduled programming. (kidding)  Time changes a lot of things. Things that time changes, changes how we view time.
Maybe you've wanted to be published traditionally but hear the same thing from agents, this topic is dead (e.g. shape shifters, vampires, dystopian), but are confident that your manuscript is so shiny you could blind a pilot at thirty thousand feet then explore self-publishing. Times have changed and technology is progressing quickly. Along with that new avenues have opened for us, writers, to utilize. There are dozens of sites to self-pub.

2015

It's hard to believe a year has gone by. Without blogging, without following other bloggers. I feel relieved and yet so far behind. 
I'll sum up my year real quick for you. 
I've shelved my oh-so-beloved first MS. (It's better this way) I'm not saying that sometime in the future I won't be dusting it off and reusing some of the elements from it. It is after all my first love and the one MS that's pushed me to realize why and how much I enjoy writing and creating. 
Meanwhile I have a very promising WIP. We'll take it slow and see how it works out.
I've become a mother. What an amazing blessing. My son is now 3 months fresh. My husband and I have made the decision for me to stay at home and resign from my job. 
Hopefully that means back into the blogging world! 
Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! 

Maybe I'll see you next year.

Blessings,

Megan

Update

Well...I didn't get into the online contest. It's given me a lot to think about. I was 200% sure my MS was ready. But maybe not. So I'm doing a revision on it and in the meantime I'll be working on my WIP. I'm sure I can do both. Wish me luck as I crawl back into the cave of writing. 

Compromise is an Umbrella

"Compromise makes a good umbrella but a poor roof"

Compromise is a dangerous thing. Yes it is nice for an insta-fix. Seldom do compromises make for a permanent fix. Think of a compromise as a bandaid. Bandaids are great for scraps and scratches. Bandaids, however, are ineffective for a gaping wound. They may help but not nearly enough to help the healing process. Don't bandaid your novel. If you feel the story will suffer so greatly it wouldn't be complete then don't compromise on the edit. Now I'm not suggesting you be unwise and disregard the request of your agent or editor. But if you reach an impass, why not shelf that novel until another time instead of compromising & making the novel something its not.

Expect Later

Will be posting later this day...transmission terminated.