Last week while searching for jobs that may or may not pay any better than the one I'm at now, and would most likely not be any more desirable than the position I currently hold, I stumbled upon an inspiration. Her name is Amanda Hocking, and just over a year ago she was still having little luck achieving a great goal of hers: to publish a book. She worked a job that paid the bills, however minimally, working as a group home staff member. She had written diligently day after day, she took the process of completing and revising her book trilogy "Trylle" as seriously as any job. After finding no viable avenues through which to publish, she decided to publish her books herself by uploading them through an e-reader and making them available to purchase for $0.99 a piece. According to the multiple online articles that describe her story, she has now made over $2 million from her books in just over a year. Book publishers have approached her for mass marketing when once they turned her down, and Terri Tatchell, co-writer of 'District 9', has apparently optioned the rights to develop her books into a movie. Damn.
I put quite a bit of effort into my little movie last year, but after it was done I sat down and acted like a spoiled only child, expecting that everything was just going to start working the way I say it would, just because. When it didn't I rolled over and played dead, and it's taken me until now to realize that there's no point in that, plain and simple. Yes, here I am writing about writing, but in some ways I guess I'm trying to kick my own ass (just a little) because I need that. I have to be the one to say it's never enough, to keep writing well into the night and finish this. The need, the desire to write and tell the stories in my head will never, ever go away, and if I don't finish them the way I know I need to tell them it will haunt me until the day I die. Good enough isn't good enough, it simply has to be done. Now.
I've run for so, so long from what I want because of so many stupid reasons: fear of failure, fear of success, fear it will be too hard, fear I know exactly what I want and how to get it and what to do but can that be possible? My good friend Kristen called it analysis paralysis, and it has to stop. A year ago I embarked on "Podunk" and expected that by simply trying the world would line up for me. Now I see it doesn't work that way. The world doesn't give a shit who you think you are, you have to prove it. Well, I have new ideas and new energy.
This is the job I want. People sacrifice for their careers, whether it be to become a lawyer, doctor, engineer, social worker, teacher, etc. It's time for me to stop making excuses, stop trying to escape, pin myself down and dig it out of me. For 2011 I had one goal: to finish at least two projects (script/novel). One at a time. At twenty-seven I still have to learn how to finish what I started. Well, it's about damn time.
Check out Amanda Hocking here:
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Hocking/e/B003H4L762/ref=s9_bbs_gw_d0_al2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0N25NKAKF40B1RCA104G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Addendum: to the maybe three people that read this blog, does anyone have any idea how to publish an original story based off of previously published characters...? This will be critical to two of my projects.
I put quite a bit of effort into my little movie last year, but after it was done I sat down and acted like a spoiled only child, expecting that everything was just going to start working the way I say it would, just because. When it didn't I rolled over and played dead, and it's taken me until now to realize that there's no point in that, plain and simple. Yes, here I am writing about writing, but in some ways I guess I'm trying to kick my own ass (just a little) because I need that. I have to be the one to say it's never enough, to keep writing well into the night and finish this. The need, the desire to write and tell the stories in my head will never, ever go away, and if I don't finish them the way I know I need to tell them it will haunt me until the day I die. Good enough isn't good enough, it simply has to be done. Now.
I've run for so, so long from what I want because of so many stupid reasons: fear of failure, fear of success, fear it will be too hard, fear I know exactly what I want and how to get it and what to do but can that be possible? My good friend Kristen called it analysis paralysis, and it has to stop. A year ago I embarked on "Podunk" and expected that by simply trying the world would line up for me. Now I see it doesn't work that way. The world doesn't give a shit who you think you are, you have to prove it. Well, I have new ideas and new energy.
This is the job I want. People sacrifice for their careers, whether it be to become a lawyer, doctor, engineer, social worker, teacher, etc. It's time for me to stop making excuses, stop trying to escape, pin myself down and dig it out of me. For 2011 I had one goal: to finish at least two projects (script/novel). One at a time. At twenty-seven I still have to learn how to finish what I started. Well, it's about damn time.
Check out Amanda Hocking here:
http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.amazon.com/Amanda-Hocking/e/B003H4L762/ref=s9_bbs_gw_d0_al2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0N25NKAKF40B1RCA104G&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Addendum: to the maybe three people that read this blog, does anyone have any idea how to publish an original story based off of previously published characters...? This will be critical to two of my projects.
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