When You Feel Like Quitting by Heather Day Gilbert

Ask any author who's been at it for several years (well, except someone like J. K. Rowling or Stephen King), and they'll probably tell you they reached a point where they thought about throwing in the towel. Writing books is hard, and marketing them is unavoidable and time-consuming.

There are so many ways authors can become discouraged. 

Here are a few that might resonate with you today: 

• Seeing other authors placing and winning in contests where you were sure you had a shot
• Seeing other authors signing multiple-book contracts with big-name publishers while you're struggling to get one book picked up

• Experiencing a lackluster book release after tremendous time and effort went into it

• Putting in full-time hours on this writing job that barely pays like a part-time job (particularly true for indie authors, who handle everything about book production themselves, so there is far more time invested from the get-go)

• Getting a string of low reviews that might be completely off-base, but they feel like a barrage of hatred for all your hard work

• Not hearing back from agents, editors, early readers...whoever it is you've pinned your hopes on to encourage you as an author

• Dealing with a lack of moral support from significant others/family

I can't say I've experienced all these discouraging things, but I have experienced nearly all of them. And sometimes these discouragements turn into the perfect storm and you just want to Q.U.I.T.

I reached one of those points recently—and the timing is so dumb, because I'm poised on the brink of another book release, with three books contracted in the future. But discouragement is no respecter of book release plans.

So what's the remedy? I can't tell you how many times my husband, my critique partner, my parents, or my readers, have pep-talked me when I was in a pit of despair about my author career. If I hadn't had their support, I know I wouldn't have stayed the course this long.

And to look at the bright side, accolades and awards do come along, and sometimes readers send emails that make your entire month, and sometimes you get a string of GOOD reviews, and you feel, for one beaming moment of glory, like your work is appreciated.

But when discouragement knocks you flat, there's only one way to keep moving forward (and it only works if you know you're supposed to be writing): you have to DIG DEEP AND KEEP GOING. You begin to laugh at discouragement—verily, you even come to EXPECT it—and you sit down in that chair and you write ANYWAY.

Because we know what happens if we don't—our books will slide right off the readers' radar. Sure, we can market and advertise our previous releases, but readers always want NEW and shiny books, and if we're not producing them, mostly likely our income will continue to decrease. And quite possibly our happiness will decrease, too, if we find joy in creating stories for people to read, which I think most of us do.

Please note that I'm not saying we have to write 24-7 and market like maniacs. There are definite times and seasons in life when we have to step back and take extended breaks from writing and marketing. But if we don't come back and stay in the game, we are likely torpedoing our careers, no matter our previous successes.

For me personally, I've put in too many hours and worked too hard to throw my career over just yet. Maybe there will come a day when I do, but today isn't that day. If you've been feeling discouraged about writing, but you know it's what you want to do most of all, don't rely on others to keep lifting you up. Dig deep and find the motivation in yourself to keep producing new books for your readers. I know they will thank you!

And if this post felt a bit harsh, please know that this entire article was really written as one gigantic, personal pep talk to myself. As for me, I've determined I'm going to keep writing. 

How about you? Has there been a time when you've considered giving up your writing career?

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HEATHER DAY GILBERT, a Grace Award winner and bestselling author, writes novels that capture life in all its messy, bittersweet, hope-filled glory. Born and raised in the West Virginia mountains, generational story-telling runs in her blood. Heather writes Viking historicals and contemporary mystery/suspense. Publisher's Weekly gave Heather's Viking historical Forest Child a starred review, saying it is "an engaging story depicting timeless human struggles with faith, love, loyalty, and leadership." Find out more on heatherdaygilbert.com.

When Historical Characters Don't Do What You Want by Heather Day Gilbert

Sometimes our characters won't march easily onto the page. Today, author Heather Day Gilbert shares her experience with one of those characters. -- Sandy

Heather: There's a reason it took me three years to publish my second Viking historical novel, which is based heavily on the Icelandic sagas:

I couldn't change history.

The first novel in the series was easier—God's Daughter is based on Gudrid, a real Christian Viking woman who sailed to North America. She was known for her ability to get along with strangers, for her beauty, and for her strong Christianity.

But Book 2, Forest Child, was not based on Gudrid's story. It was based on her sister-in-law's story—Freydis, the daughter of Eirik the Red. Freydis was known for being a domineering woman, a violent warrior, and for being difficult to get along with.

Not to mention, she did something totally unthinkable. I had to merge the facts of her story into my fictional tale, AND I had to make her a character we wanted to root for.

It was a daunting task and I'll be the first to say that I stalled in writing the book, even though Freydis haunted me both in my dreams and waking hours. WHY did you do what you did, I would yell at her (mostly when I was alone in my car). My readers kept asking when Book 2 would release. Below is a pic of one of my most avid Viking readers, Kelly, when she finally got her early reader copy of Forest Child. 

I also write in first person present tense. So as I pondered Freydis' tale, I had to get into her head in a way I really didn't want to.

But something happened when I started writing her story. She came alive to me, even as Gudrid did, and I started to see her motivations. I started to understand what might drive a woman to do what she did.

I started to see her heart.

Sometimes, history doesn't turn out the way you want. For instance, I can think of several Bible stories that didn't play out in a cheery way. It's so sad that Moses never got to step foot in the Promised Land. It's hard to see Israelites being punished heavily for the same kinds of mistakes I know we would make.  It stinks that Solomon blotted his record of wisdom by marrying so many women and allowing them to worship other gods.

 But those stories are there for us to learn from.

For historical authors, we have to take real facts/details and merge them with a driving storyline that will bring history alive in a way that is fresh. We have some leeway in the interpretation of some facts (with the Viking era, the facts are few and far between—and still disputed), but in the end, especially if we're writing about real people, we have to be true to their stories. We have to let them make huge mistakes and do things we wish they hadn't done.

In the end, it was God who helped me bring Freydis' story to life in a way that was both relatable and redemptive. I fretted and worried my early readers might not "get" her...but it turns out, they're loving this book. And now they want to read more about Viking times. 

This is the ultimate reward for the historical author—when your novels spur readers to learn more about the time period you're so passionate about.

So be brave, historical author. Tell those tales that need to be told, spanning the years with characters that come alive for our readers.

Have you ever dealt with a character, historic or contemporary, who was hard to make likeable, but one you must write?

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HEATHER DAY GILBERT, a Grace Award winner and bestselling author, writes novels that capture life in all its messy, bittersweet, hope-filled glory. Find out more at heatherdaygilbert.com.

Critical Thinking by Heather Day Gilbert

Heather Day Gilbert

My husband recently told me he was proud of me. Not for sticking with writing for five years, refusing to give up…not for homeschooling his children to dizzying intellectual heights…not even for whipping up supper, night after night (admission: sometimes it’s just scrambled eggs).

Nope. He said, “I’m proud of you—you’ve really learned to take criticism of your writing.”

You have to understand that when I started writing, I thought every word that hit the page was perfect. I’d blow off any criticisms as, “They just don’t get my vision.” I’d get upset when my newspaper articles were re-titled.

Then I wrote my first novel. I got some push-back, some rejection. I pulled myself off the floor, re-grouped and wrote another novel—this time, historical fiction.

I did something different with this one. I took popular agency blog advice and I joined an online critique group for historical fiction.

Now, the very word critique probably has some ancient connection with the word criticism--which no newbie writer wants to receive. However, I figured I’d give it a shot and see what all the hype was about.

For my group, you’d load up one of your chapters, then critique three separate author’s chapters. In return, three authors would critique yours. It was tricky at first, but I got the hang of it.

As others’ errors jumped out at me, I started recognizing those same errors in my own writing. And as people asked me pointed questions about my chapters, I learned. I learned what worked and what didn’t.

For example, one critter pointed out that “She threw up her hands” sounded a little too much like a stomach virus scenario.

Another seasoned writer pointed out that the trend in fiction is to use action beats instead of dialogue tags. Now, since my novel was chock-full of dialogue tags, I didn’t take this advice seriously. After all, dialogue tags litter the classics, and if it’s good enough for the classics, it’s good enough for me! I should’ve listened—when I later got an agent, one of the first things he edited was my excessive use of dialogue tags.

There was also a writer in my group who knew far more about my time period than I could ever hope to know. He made sure I got every niggling detail correct—imperative for a historical fiction author.

But before long, I was too busy with my editing and proposal-writing, and I had to drop the critique group. Meanwhile, I saw lots of blogs and comments by CBA writers, talking about their crit partners in glowing terms. I shopped around a little, looking for that one person whose advice always resonated and whose crits I always respected.

Guess what? God brought the perfect crit partner to me. Doesn’t mean she’s the only one I have. But if she says something doesn’t work, I know it doesn’t. She is strong in the areas where I’m weak. And she represents the target group for my novels.

Accepting critiques didn’t come easy at first, but like everything, with practice, you learn how to do it right. You have a stronger advice-filter in your head that says, “Integrating that will make my story stronger,” or, “That’s heading the wrong direction.”

Newbie writers, a sure sign of growth is when you’re willing to change your writing based on applicable critiques. I know that query’s burning a hole in your computer, but get your manuscript critiqued by one or two trusted writers/readers before you send it out. Though it takes some time and effort, it will close that gap between you and your agent-to-be much faster.

About the Author

Heather Day Gilbert writes stories about authentic, believable marriages. Fifteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as nine years spent homeschooling her three children. Heather is the ACFW West Virginia Area Coordinator. Her historical fiction novel, God’s Daughter, is rooted in the Icelandic sagas. She recently completed an Appalachian-set suspense novel. You can find out more at Heather’s blogspot: http://www.heatherdaygilbert.blogspot.com, or at her FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Day-Gilbert/255797467834948. She’d also love to chat on twitter @vikingwritergal.