Monday, May 17, 2010

No Shortcuts

You have to keep plugging away. We are all growing. There is no shortcut. You have to put time into it to build an audience
~ John Gruber


Need I say more? Happy Monday!

How much time have you put into the dream of getting published?

46 comments:

  1. I was just thinking about this, wondering how much time I'd spent on this book, querying, and writing the second book. It's a good thing I haven't kept track- the number would be totally scary. I guess I'm so invested there's no turning back now!

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  2. I was thinking about how to build an audience this weekend and decided that it's just going to take time and work. Nice to see I'm on the right track :)

    I have no idea how much time I've spent over the last couple of years working on my writing. I think I'd probably be terrified to know the truth!

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  3. Every possible sane and insane moment! :) Need some new spark plugs.

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  4. Plug, plug, plug! And every so often, I need a recharge. Big time.

    Super post. I have missed you so much. I love you Shannon. *hugs*

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  5. Let's just say that the pot is on the stove simmering. When my kids are in school full time, I'll be able to put more of myself into the effort. :)

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  6. I'm making as much time as I can, while I can :) Thanks for the great quote!

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  7. Tons... and tons...and tons...

    It will happen one day. =)

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  8. With the current wip? Two years thinking, six months writing, two years (!) redrafting. Speedy is not my middle name. :)

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  9. About as much time as I spend breathing.

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  10. Every moment possible. Even if I spend a million hours (is that even possible?) achieving my dream will be well worth it!!

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  11. Probably a rather large number of hours. I love writing and I love the people I've met through that, so it never feels like a chore really. :)

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  12. Technically, 5 years, though 3 have been way more involved than the first 2. And I haven't even gotten to the query stage yet. I was writing and learning how to write in those years and just now I have novels to rewrite. So, it may take a few more years.

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  13. Depends on the day, but not nearly enough this year with homeschooling. That's coming to an end very soon (woohoo!). I'll be working really hard once summer hits though, and I can't wait! The countdown to June 28th is on...

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  14. What?! No shortcuts! When did all this happen? ;)

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  15. I don't know the exact amount of time, but it was enough that I'll see it happen this fall.

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  16. I have to remind myself of this all the time and even though it might take me longer than others, patience is the key.

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  17. Well, let's put it this way. I have to try to remember to put time into doing things other than working towards the goal of being published. :P ;) Crazy girl.

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  18. More than I thought I would when I started this crazy process. But it's all worth it. Like the quote said, you're BUILDING an audience. That doesn't happen overnight.

    Happy Monday!

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  19. How much time have I put in? Hmm, this year or last? Lol.

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  20. Way more than seems rational some days. Other days, it seems not nearly enough! :)

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  21. I think this in unquantifiable for writers. We write when we're doing dishes, picking weeds and reading books to our children.

    Now, if I could count the hours for my actually published book alongside the royalties - and work out the pittance I've made per hour, I would cry. So I won't ever do that. :)

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  22. Every night, and all the time during the day. Every time I zone out and whenever I'm concentrating really hard. Pretty much every moment of every day.

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  23. Whew. There's no way to count. But, I did have to force myself to realize that thinking about writing wasn't the same thing as actually putting pen to paper and, you know, WRITING!!

    sf

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  24. Years and years of writing and receiving rejections. Learning from my mistakes and doing it over again. BUT finally I sold and it's been all worth it. Now the blogging thing is another learning curve. Thank you so much for always posting a wonderful blog.

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  25. But you know, once you're doing it, it's mostly worth it.

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  26. Not enough time. Writing is so, SO important to me, but I'm such a cheat. My MS is the first thing I put aside if I don't have enough time -- not family, not my day job, not blogging, but writing goes out the window first. I need to fix that. How much am I willing to put in? Way, way more.

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  27. Hehe sometimes I feel like my whole life has been spent on this--but its so fun!

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  28. I have put in countless hours and will undoubtedly put in countless more, but I believe wholeheartedly that it's worth it!

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  29. Wonderful post for Monday! How many hours? Impossible to even count! It's my life and has been from the day I first picked up a Beverley Cleary book and wanted to be her.

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  30. More hours than I could possibly count! Since I was a child I've dreamed of being published and I have been taking steps towards it ever since! Thanks for making me think about it, though - I had to thank myself and that's always a good thing!

    Great post! :D

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  31. I've only worked on fictio a few years but have beeb writing et. for more than five.

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  32. I'm trying to put in my time. =]

    Great quote!

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  33. So. Much. Time... And still so long go to, lol. Man, writers can be such masochists! ha.

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  34. Sometimes a bit too much, methinks. You have an award over on my blog. XOXO

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  35. I think tallying up the hours would horrify me, so I won't. I'll just keep telling myself it's only a couple hours a day if that, no big deal.

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  36. So true! I'm getting there, but not enough yet for everywhere that I want to go:)

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  37. Quite a bit but I realize I still have a lot more to go. Thing is, I know its worth it :)

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  38. 5 years. 5 manuscripts (+ "sequel" manuscripts). Numerous picture books I've hardly tried to sell. My blog for the past 8 months. Critique groups. Exchange partners. Thousand of words. Hundreds of edits. 5 conferences. Many hours of sleep lost. Too many hours of doubt. Several breakdowns of tears.

    But only recently does it finally feel like it's coming together.

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  39. Hmm... I really don't think I want to figure out how many hours I've spent! Might be a little depressing :)

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  40. I'm on my third year of writing with the goal of publication...I have one magazine publication, one SCBWI Regional publication and some really nice personal rejections. :) I must be getting close. :)

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  41. According to Gladwell's book Outliers, it takes 10000 hours to become successful at something. I am working towards that goal!

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  42. No idea how much time spent, but blogging is certainly a way to build an audience that is really exploding in popularity! I wonder what other ways people have of building audiences.

    Love the illustration. :)

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  43. Shannon, I haven't counted up the hours, but I know a lot have been logged in. I think I may have reached the 10,000 I mentioned on Peace Garden Writer last week. :) Hope you are well! Tomorrow, I present at the Young Author Conference. You will be with me in spirit and through the words on your blog I'm sharing with the kids!

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  44. Such great advice, if we just viewed finishing a novel the same way we do any other job we'd all get it finished a lot quicker. My hours? Not nearly enough. :-)

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  45. I put a lot into dreaming about publishing, but more into writing, editing and querying!

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  46. Certainly not as many as I could have. Or could be.

    But there's life to be lived...so I'll just say I put in what I can, when I can. It will all sort itself out eventually. ;-)

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