Saturday, August 21, 2010

"Project to Published" I challenge/dare you!

Welcome to my new meme “Project to Published”, where I hope to help writers just starting out make their way to their dreams! I hope that this meme will be able to help each of you as you go from a blank piece of paper to getting your project published.

Throughout this new meme, I hope to be able to help hopeful authors, and in general, people with a love for writing with all of the helpful tips I have found, links and so much more. First, I will caution each you that the hardest lesson to learn is a big part of taking your first steps toward writing your first novel, or going for the golden egg of being published. The hardest lesson to learn is that the only way to truly fail is to never try. While rejection hurts, each of you will still know that you were still able to write your novel, get past your initial writers block, come up with an original story idea, and/or any number of steps you may have taken that so many others never took the chance to try.

I will not lie to you. It is a tough market, but there are rewards past what others might show you or what other online sources may explain or even understand. It isn’t about getting published or the amount of fans you make. It is about growth. It is an absolutely amazing feeling when you become published that makes that one yes worth all of the times you heard no. But there is also more to it than merely reaching your destination. Writing a novel, allowing yourself to have the type of freedom that a blank page can give you, can provide so much more than only what you hoped or dreamed.

That blank page before you means that you have all the room in the world to grow as much as you want. It means that you have a world of open possibilities laid out right there in front of you because in a novel anything can happen. I write because it is what I love to do. Every time I start a new story, I look at my computer screen and suddenly it comes flowing out of me, as though a part of myself that had been trapped or locked away has finally been set loose. It is a freedom unmatched. Does this sound interesting? Here is my very first challenge for you.

Look at that blank piece of paper and don’t think about publication. Don’t think about that heart wrenching need to have your voice be heard and/or your words read, don’t think about agents or marketing. Sit down and let that blank page in front of you spell out freedom. Go ahead, type it even! Spell it out and read it carefully f-r-e-e-d-o-m. Now I think we all know what to do with freedom. USE IT! Let your heart and mind feel free to tell the story inside of you, not only because of your hopes and dreams for yourself, but because that story feels its own need to be told!

I challenge you to write!

Sincerely,
Emma Michaels

28 comments:

  1. I accept your challenge!!! Please keep posting things for writers. I am just now starting on my journey and every little bit helps!!

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  2. I've been stuck in revision mode for too long. Thanks for the reminder of what it feels like to start a new story.

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  3. Re: Googie: I will keep posting it! It felt so good to write this I don't think I could stop now even if I wanted to!

    Re: Jennifer Hoffine: To be honest, that is part of what writing this did for me too. I was able to remember why I love blank notebooks and a yet to be filled word processor page. I am currently in the editing stage of my second book and seeing all the mistakes made during writing can really get you down but now I am in the mood for the next book I am about to start! If there is anything I can do or any topics you want me to cover please let me know!

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  4. Thank you for writing this, it is inspiring. I was reading some of my old stuff the other day and I just hated all of it, and it really got me down. But I have been wanting to start a new story for some time now, so thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Thank you for being a rockstar!! I needed to hear this. I have been staring at my blank page for a few days now. My WiP is nearly finished and I just can't get the words out all of a sudden. *shrugs* But this helps so much. :)

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  6. WOW! Thanks I am filled with inspiration. I often struggle with the want to write a book. Most of the time I dont know where to start or what it should be about. So I accept your challenge and I am going to use the word freedom and let whatever comes out to come out =D. I look forward to keep participating in this challenge!

    How much do you try to write a day?

    ashleysbookshelf@gmail.com

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  7. Great challenge! I'd love to join. I've also included a link on my post for authors starting new books.

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  8. Hello Emma, just a quick note to say thanks for stopping by my blog. I think its great to encourage new and up and coming writers, I am always on the lookout for something new, so I think this challenge would be great. Good luck with it and with all your ventures.

    Emma

    PS:Its just a pity that the Goodreads giveaway is not for my Country of South Africa, maybe next time. :-)

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  9. That's a good prompt for new writers. Let loose the inhibitions.

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  11. Re: Danielle: I know what you mean, that happens to me all the time but the best part about that is that you know you are growing. You can look back on your own work and see things you should have done different, that now you can do different in future works or a re-write. It means you have taken another step forward, not one back. I am so happy to know I was able to inspire! YEAY!

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  12. Re: Michelle: Yeay for rockstarness! *laughs* I think that is the first time I have been called a rockstar! Wishing you tons of luck on you WiP and if you want next week I can do a post about writers block. There are a lot of different things you can do to help get past in but the number one thing I would suggest is to retrace your initial inspiration. I always keep a token from every novel I have written, something that reminds me of that initial point of inspiration, that moment when I knew what I wanted to write.

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  13. Re: Ashley’s Bookshelf: YEAY! Thank you and again so happy to inspire! I will have to keep some of the things you mentioned in mind and do a post about where to start, plots or topics! Wishing you luck and tons of writing! To answer your question, I try to set aside a few hours every day even if I have to take it from somewhere else and just sit down and try to write. The amount I do each day doesn’t matter as much to me as keeping it constant and training myself to be able to call on my writing whenever I have the time or ability to. Though when I first started out I would make small word count goals, it can really be helpful to people who are beginning. Take a day that you get inspired and see how many words you wrote, aim for about 75% of whatever number that was and each week add to that amount. It really helps.

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  14. Re: MC Rogerson: Thank you! I really hope to be able to reach as many starting out authors as I can. I know this information would have helped me and I have so much more to share!

    Re: Emma: No problem. I love finding new blogs! Thank you so much for your kind words! Sorry, I will try to see if the next giveaway can be fully international.

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  15. Re: Alex J. Cavanaugh: Exactly! It was the hardest part for me and I hope I can help others through it so that there even more amazing novels out there for us all to read and enjoy!

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  16. This is such a great idea, I have been working on a few projects and am always looking for a bit of inside information! Keep it up!! Great Meme!

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  17. I am very excited to write my next two chapters: SIX AND SEVEN! Yay. This is probably the novel I want to focus on getting published the most and I am currently rewriting it. I'm SO excited! *dances*

    I look forward to learning new things my Yoda.

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  18. Hi, Emma, I enjoyed the post. I'm a new blog follower. -laura

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  19. Oh man! A few tips on battling writer's block would be awesome!!! pleasepleaseplease.

    I will definitely retrace those first inspired steps. Sometimes just rereading a favorite chapter does wonders for me.

    Thanks a zillion again!

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  20. Hopefully this will help get my butt into gear. I'm so close to finishing my first draft! So close.

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  21. Great idea for a challenge. I'm getting back into writing fiction after many many years away. I've been writing some fanfiction for fun lately. Ultimately, I want to write original pieces, but fanfiction is a venue to get comfortable writing.
    Alison Can Read

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  22. Hi! I've passed on a little blog award to you. Check out my post for today and you'll see it ;-) http://nocturnalreadings.blogspot.com

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  23. Let me first say congrats on the recent release of The Thirteenth Chime. I'm looking forward to reading it! And you are so awesome for wanting to help new writers. Your new meme couldn't come at a better time for me. I've been going to college (I'm a non-traditional student...which means I'm old..LOL!) since 2003 so writing my novel has been put off. Well, I recently found out that my student loans capped out and I can't go back to school. A bummer, I know...but I kind of took it as a sign and I've decided to concentrate on my writing full-time! I started a writing blog (to keep me accountable) where I will post updates,
    The Story Inside Me I'm looking forward to your posts and I accept your challenge! =o)

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  24. Thanks, Emma, for so much. Your Blog Hop brought new followers, great new blogs. I thanked you on yesterday's post. I'm a believer now. So much good comes from these hops.

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  25. Hello Emma. What a good challenge - sometimes we need to be reminded to write - hell, I certainly do! :)

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  26. Wow, this is a really great meme!

    Just wanted to let you know I have chosen you for an award on my blog! Visit this post to accept the award! :)

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  27. What a wonderful post. I am an author aspiring to publication but I can honestly say that I write because I truly love doing it. When I'm writing, I'm not thinking about the rejections I've received or the yes I will finally obtain. I am caught up in transferring the story in my head to the laptop/memory stick/paper in front of me.

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