https://medium.com/swlh/why-i-celebrate-my-worst-day-as-my-own-personal-holiday-fda1ac45723f
Why I Celebrate My Worst Day as My Own Personal Holiday
Posted on November 13, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Liberation Day, or Being Thankful for Change
Posted on January 20, 2014 · Leave a Comment
Note: This article was originally posted on my blog Aether Excursions, January 20, 2014.
I tend to refer to one of the days around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as “Liberation Day.” That’s my way of being thankful for a shocking and demoralizing day in my life in 2011 when I was suddenly demoted from my director position at work. The personal earthquake has turned out to have positive results, and the resentment for the way it was carried out has mostly faded. Although, I’ll confess, there are days…
Here’s what I’m thankful for about the whole situation:
- A decrease in stress. My job is no longer a major stressor.
- I discovered the world of independent publishing. I published Second Death and The Source of Lightning, as well as a collection of short stories, The Color of Darkness and Other Stories.
- I focused on God to help me through and strengthen me.
- I learned the people I work with were (and are) supportive and impressed (amazed?) that I handled the situation with grace.
- I realized I’d been coasting for a long time, and found the energy to launch into other areas.
On January 22 of this year [2014], I’ll attend the Service Awards Luncheon and receive an award for 25 years at my workplace. But I’m thankful that’s not my only source of self-worth.
Happy Liberation Day to me!
Liberation Day, or Being Thankful for Change
Posted on January 20, 2014 · Leave a Comment
I tend to refer to one of the days around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as “Liberation Day.” That’s my way of being thankful for a shocking and demoralizing day in my life in 2011 when I was suddenly demoted from my director position at work. The personal earthquake has turned out to have positive results, and the resentment for the way it was carried out has mostly faded. Although, I’ll confess, there are days…
Here’s what I’m thankful for about the whole situation:
- A decrease in stress. My job is no longer a major stressor.
- I discovered the world of independent publishing. I published Second Death and The Source of Lightning, as well as a collection of short stories, The Color of Darkness and Other Stories.
- I focused on God to help me through and strengthen me.
- I learned the people I work with were (and are) supportive and impressed (amazed?) that I handled the situation with grace.
- I realized I’d been coasting for a long time, and found the energy to launch into other areas.
On January 22 of this year, I’ll attend the Service Awards Luncheon and receive an award for 25 years at my workplace. But I’m thankful that’s not my only source of self-worth.
Happy Liberation Day to me!
How to Survive the Slough of Despond
Posted on August 24, 2011 · 2 Comments
I’m not sure how many people these days understand the allusion in the title. It refers to a location in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. I’ve never read it, honestly, although I’ve heard the phrase for years. Here’s a quotation from it, via from the Wikipedia entry for “Slough of Despond,” which literally means swamp of despair: “This miry Slough is such a place as cannot be mended…There ariseth in [the sinner’s] soul many fears, and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place, and this is the reason for the badness of this ground.” I left out the parts about sin; that belongs in a religious commentary, which this isn’t. Substitute “writer’s” for “sinner’s,” and doesn’t this sound like the state of mind in which we often find ourselves? Fears? Check. Doubts? Check. Discouraging apprehensions? Oh yeah, in spades.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m in a personal Slough of Despond at the moment. John Bunyan wouldn’t understand the actual phrase “burned out,” but he’d probably include the essence of that phrase in his nasty swamp. I’m not burned out on writing, surprisingly, but on marketing. No, the writing of the WIP (which stands for “work in progress,” for those of you who were afraid to ask) is going along swimmingly, thanks. Y’know, when I actually find time to write. At the moment, writing is easy. Marketing is hard.
Marketing is hard anyway to most writers. If you’re fearful of ridicule in reviews that say your heartfelt work is crap, how are you able to tell everybody in the world they should read it because it’s great? If you doubt your ability to write because no one has bought it or even downloaded it for free, how can you summon the catchy and intriguing prose that will compel readers to catapult you to the Amazon top 100? As has been pointed out elsewhere (I’m not finding the actual quote, but trust me on this), writers of fiction are not generally used to writing marketing copy, especially for themselves.
It’s especially discouraging when you aren’t seeing great sales. That’s where I am these days. My sales are pretty pitiful (like a couple of sales a week or less), despite a regimen of marketing and participating and trying to get my name out there. I’ve put out a collection of stories, but I’ve been too burned out to really promote it much. The next book, The Source of Lightning, is in editing, and I’m hoping it will find more readers. But in the indie marketing game, “hoping” just doesn’t cut it.
So what do you do? You’re not going to like the answer. Everybody tells you there’s no magic bullet. Everybody’s right. If you read the authors of “how to” e-books I reviewed in my last post, they’ll tell you it’s hard work. And luck, as J.A. Konrath always reminds us. You keep at it, that’s what you do. Hire it done, if you have the money to spare. Check out people like Duolit. Read blogs like Indie Author Community for inspiration. Join groups like Indie Author Group to learn and rejuvenate. Above all, keep at it.
Really, that slough can’t stretch on forever. You’ll get to the end of it eventually. Or you’ll decide it’s too hard and give up. Take courage in the fact that you’re an indie author, and YOU are in charge of your destiny. Reach out for help. Keep on keepin’ on. If you don’t illuminate the path, luck won’t find you.
Comment and let me know how you survive the Slough of Despond.