How Darth Vader and Decapitation are Like Writing

I'm always amazed at the little gems of wisdom that drop from my kids' mouths. My husband teases me because he says I can make anything about writing, but hey...it's what's on the brain most days so when I hear something I just naturally apply it to my writing world :)

Since this week is Write On Con (have you guys been reveling in the awesome!!?) I bought my kids a few bribes to make up for their absentee mother. My son got a Star Wars Wii game. He's been glued to the thing. Its level is a bit old for him but he's been doing very well at it.

He came into my office yesterday very excited and I thought for sure he'd done something spectacular on his game. He said:

I made it to Level 3! And then Darth Vader chopped my head off.

I congratulated him, happy that he was excited about his level progression and wasn't upset over getting killed so soon after achieving it.

Now what, you may be wondering, does getting your virtual head chopped off by Darth Vader have to do with writing?

Making it all the way to Level 3 was a major accomplishment for him. He's playing a very hard game and is doing extremely well. Sure he has some help here and there (compliments of my husband who stayed up until midnight playing that game :D ). And sure he has some moments where it seems like it's too hard and he wants to give up (sound familiar?). But he stuck with it. And he's progressed.

And then....he got his head chopped off.

How often do we make it to the next level only to get knocked back down? How often do we finish that chapter, complete that tear-inducing revision, write THE END on a new manuscript...only to find yet another problem that needs fixing? How often do we send out queries only to get rejections? Or feel the euphoria of a request only to have that rejected too? Or finally sign with Agent Awesome and go out on submission only to find that no one wants to publish your book?

More often than we'd all like to think about.

So what should we do?

Do what my son did. Come in with a smile on our faces and a bounce in our steps because of the major goal we accomplished. And then ignore the fact that Darth Vader just chopped off our heads and get right back to it...determined to beat the Dark Side if it's the last thing we do :)

I think it gets a little too easy to focus on our defeats. We don't spend nearly enough time reveling in our accomplishments. So that's my challenge to you. The next time a whizzing lightsaber comes at your head, don't let it get you down. Don't let it stop you from continuing your journey. Hit reset and get right back to the battle :) Because that's the only way you'll win in the end :)

Focus on the Words

You know, this whole writing thing can be hard. And I know you've heard it a million times before :) But..well...it's true. And sometimes it's hard to focus on what's important, on what I really want, what my goal really is.

I want to be successful at what I love to do.

Not rich, or famous, or a permanent fixture on every bestselling list out there (although yeah, that would be nice) :D But, just successful at what I love to do. I want to write. See my books in the hands of my readers. See them enjoy my stories. And hopefully help my family a little in the process :)

But often, instead of keeping that goal in mind, I focus on how I want to do it all, be the best, be everything - mom extraordinaire whose children are the best behaved, cleanest, well-fed, most incredible students in school, best all around children EVER; successful author who sells every book she writes within days of sending them out; marketing genius who merely has to mention her books' names to have droves of people lining up to buy them...in short, I want to be like her:

and if I could pull off that outfit and chase down sticky-fingered kids in high heeled boots, more power to me :D

But I generally fall a little short of that lofty goal and end up more like this:

(except change out that beer for a root beer because ooo I loves me some root beer!)

I want to be the one at the front of the pack, the one winning the big publishing race!

But...I sometimes get caught up in watching where everyone else is in the race and end up feeling more like this:

And you know, that's when I have to stop and remind myself what is really important. Remind myself why I'm doing this in the first place.

I love to write. I want to write. Yes, I want my books plastered all over the NYT Best seller's list. Yes, I want to make millions doing what I love so I can go buy a castle in Scotland and do nothing but scribble my next masterpiece up in my turret tower. It might even happen someday :)

But only one thing is for sure. Nothing I want will ever happen if I don't focus on the words. On the stories I want to tell. When the craziness of it all gets a little overwhelming, I have to force myself to settle down and take it one tiny step at a time...and focus on this:

Nothing else matters if I don't write :)