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| Marianne Evans |
My son just
ran and completed his first marathon! I’m such a proud mama. Like his father
before him, he trained, he became educated on the sport and its processes, and
he committed himself to a regimen that leaves me in awe. What a kiddo!
His
accomplishment, coupled with the upcoming kick-off of NaNoWriMo, made me think about marathoning in terms of my own writer
life.
In the
past year and a half, I have written a four-book series of novellas, two short
contemporary romances, and a women’s fiction novel. Whew. The process was…and
has been…daunting at times. It’s a marathon. Unwilling to sacrifice quality, I continually train myself in the craft and strive to become educated so the manuscripts I turn in are the best they can be and as polished as possible. After all,
publication is a marathon exercise for editors as well.
Producing
multiple books, on a deadline, takes knowledge of the entire publication
process. It takes commitment. Backside in the chair, fingers to keyboard, head
and heart buried deep within the pages of my WIP. There are days, sure, when
the last thing I feel like doing is booting up the computer and crafting the
next scene, the next chapter, the next conflict. In marathon terms, that’s
called ‘hitting the wall.’
That’s
when an amazing transformation occurs—I find if I power through and stick with
it, I will find myself engulfed by the
story God is giving me to tell. Easy? No. Frustrating? At times, you bet.
Rewarding? To the highest power.
Finally,
there’s commitment to the regimen. I can't allow myself to just dream of writing. I have to sit down and do it. I can’t let myself be afraid of the learning curves and the hard
work; both are on-going processes as I write. That’s when I force myself to
remember a wise bit of advice I paraphrase from the one-and-only Nora Roberts: “The
only thing you can’t edit is a blank page.”
What’s
your battle? What ‘wall’ do you hit as a writer? Let’s compare notes. I’m
praying for you, friends, and cheering you on. In the end, I hope you take on
the challenges before you and discover the surprising truth that the ‘marathon’
is well worth the effort.
Click to Tweet!!
"The only thing you can't edit is a blank page."
Click to Tweet!!
"The only thing you can't edit is a blank page."
~~~~~
Marianne’s
new series, Sisters in Spirit, is her latest release from Pelican Book Group and is the
prelude to Pure Amore – a new line of subscription-only contemporary romances
featuring a powerful message to Christian New Adults regarding chastity and
purity. Marianne is honored to be one of the six launch authors for this new
and exciting line.
You can
find Sisters in Spirit right here: Sisters
in Spirit at Pelican Book Group and here’s more information about Pure
Amore: http://pure.pelicanbookgroup.com/
Happy
reading!
~~~~~
Marianne Evans is a multi-award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create. Devotion, earned the Bookseller’s Best Award as well as the Heart of Excellence Award. She also earned wins for Best Romance of 2012 from the Christian Small Publisher's Association and the Selah award for best Novella of 2013. Happily married and the mother of two, Marianne is a lifelong resident of Michigan who is active in a number of a number of Romance Writers of America chapters, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President. Connect with her at www.marianneevans.com.
