Welcome Wednesday – Overcoming Adversity
Welcome to this week’s edition of Welcome Wednesdays!
Today we’re talking about overcoming adversity. We all face difficult times in our lives – authors, tell us how you’ve overcome challenges in your life and kept on writing. Has your writing in some way helped pull you through those difficult times? Have those trials been reflected in your books?
Be sure to leave a link as well so we can learn more about you!
I’ll begin…
I have to say that I’ve been pretty lucky in life, all things considered. But the books did help me through one particular difficult time – a couple of summers ago, after my company was merged, I lost my job. Having the books as an ongoing project, a goal, and also something to be proud of, really helped me to deal with that situation better than I would have without them (not that I handled it all that well even so, I have to admit).
The book I was working on at the time was DREAM VACATION. I lost my job in August, and I had the book released in October. So there you go!
And now it’s your turn!
(when you’re done here, please stop by Exquisite Quills, where there are daily memes just like this one and plenty of fantastic authors you can discover!)
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4 Replies to “Welcome Wednesday – Overcoming Adversity”
Thank you for this opportunity, James. My writing career has been more like a long-distance race than a roller-coaster ride. I believe my lowest point (to date!) was when I submitted the first 25 pages of my work-in-progress to a contest. It made the finals, and I was thrilled, with high hopes.
But several weeks later, while on vacation visiting family in another state, I got the final results: not only did I NOT win, but the final judge (an agent) wrote a scathing, derogatory soliloquy about the entry. I attended the annual family picnic that day struggling to hold back tears, and seriously considering “throwing in the keyboard.”
However, I had entered TWO contests at the same time. A few weeks later, I received notice I’d made the finals. I tried not to get my hopes up. When I got the final results and The Phoenix Syndrome had won first place in its division, I was over the moon.
The main takeaway here is: NEVER GIVE UP. Believe in yourself, your talent, your work, and the validity of the stories you want to tell. A long, hard road, but one I couldn’t live without.
After struggling with back, neck, and shoulder problems caused by sitting at a PC for long periods of time, I invested in a height-adjustable desk so I can write standing up, at least part of the time. This is my first day using it. Does anyone else have any experience with this?
I’m so glad you had your WIP during your job loss! Writing saved my sanity when my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. I knew he and my Mom would need me to be strong (my Dad hated to see anyone cry), so I made the decision to think of myself, not as his oldest daughter, but his “executive officer” so I could do my duty, not realizing I’d have to stay that way for ELEVEN months.
As a writing “assignment” to myself, I threw out all but the opening scene of a novel I’d written years ago that didn’t “work” and asked the characters to tell me THEIR story. By listening to them instead of forcing a plot, the story poured out, day by day, effectively distracting me from my grief and the awful situations caused by a “no-surrender” Colonel fighting a losing battle (and he couldn’t be moved from home because he was 100% dependent on two oxygen compressors).
Although I hadn’t planned to do anything with this story, my critique group urged me to send it to an agent. I paid to have it edited and proofread, and when my own cancer relapsed last summer, self-published the first book as a “good-bye” to family and friends. (Thankfully I’m back in remission.) That first book is Mercy’s Prince, which is free today through Friday! http://www.amazon.com/Mercys-Prince-Finds-Mercy-Book-ebook/dp/B0115KNDS4
Much like you I had a period of unemployment while I was working on Hiding In Plain Sight, since I find it very difficult to write when I’m stressed this was a huge challenge. I decided to focus on the fact that not working meant more free time for writing (between interviews) and not only was I able to finish the book and the first round of editing, I found a great job and sold the book very soon after. I still find it difficult to write when I’m stressed but that taught me a huge lesson which is that pushing through the stresseful times is ultimately worth it!