Imagine It

There are sure a lot of great 'I' words aren't there? The verbs... Inspire, integrate, itch, irk... nouns... Idiom, ink, individual, ibex, imagination ... adjectives... Iconic, individual (fits here, too, eh?), illusory, icky... So many choices...


I thought very much about featuring Independent...

Did you know I was a firehorse? Chinese centuries are 60 years long... twelve animals, five elements... and the quality that defines horses is independence... and the element of fire magnifies this to such a degree that in ancient China, we tended to be euthanized. It was believed we were so fiercely independent that we would surely dishonor our families...

And it's true... among my traits, this one comes across VERY strongly. I do things my own way and hesitate to ask for help...

random pic found on 'Independent Press' search

But my TOPIC was to be Independent Publishing...

You see... Self-publishing is trying to commandeer a label that previously meant published by a small, independent press, as opposed to a BIG press.

Now my hesitation on self-publishing is waning... I think there are times, places, circumstances... in which it may actually be a really smart idea. (not always, and I still think a lot of people are doing it too early in process, as there is no one to stop them, but I am shifting).

But I have a problem with a label that used to mean a very specific thing being STOLEN so something sounds... I want to say more legitimate, but I don't think self-publishing is illegitimate... But independently published books are published by SMALL PRESSES. It irks me to have Amazon (among others) calling self-published 'independent'. So there.

But the topic I think I really want to talk about is IMAGERY and thinking ourselves forward... if we IMAGINE our success... it is easier to get there.

Athletes learn this—particularly athletes who perform routines, but all athletes... envision your success... the routine done perfectly, the game played with no errors, the race run or swum fastest...

It also works for giving a presentation or doing a stage performance...

But can it work for this writing path we're on? Can we visualize ourselves through the first draft... through editing... though querying... If I imagine myself winning ABNA can I make it happen?

My answer is a resounding 'Sort of'.

I believe we can imagine ourselves through the performance pieces... picture ourselves writing like mad and make it happen... picture the editing (and that giddy thing from really doing it well)... picture ourselves finding the right critique partners and sending it out... getting feedback and really FEELING it so that our work improves... Those things, I believe we can imagine into being.

The OUTCOMES? Agent loves the query? (needs to have the imagined perfecting of that query, first)... Agents love the ms? Needs to have been perfected... the contests? There is no freaking way ANY amount of imagining will change the OTHER people who enter, so go ahead and imagine it, but probably there is a piece of this that is strictly luck...

So let's do it, my friends... let's imagine the success we can have... Imagine it!



And now for a couple I blogs...

In Time: Michael is one of my friends I met through the ABNA connection, but he and I share a Harry Potter obsession and he is FABULOUS. You definitely should check him out...

Inkpots and Quills: Ann lives part of the time in the US and part in Ireland, and has lots of interesting tales on family and writing (and she's a new grandma! Squeee!)