The Only Way is Up

I’ve been down about the first draft of Devil’s Blood. I’m currently revising the entire novel. I went back and saw all these little things, like sentence structure, unclear actions, and weird dangling modifiers. So, I made the executive decision to revise the novel.

Last night I proofread another chapter, then took a break. I’ve been down about how “not good” the first book was. I was so proud of it when it came out. I didn’t see past my name on the bottom of the finished product. When I lost that indie contest back in March, I spent weeks depressed about it. I read the first chapter again. Not good. Not winning material.

It’s kind of a soft spot of mine to think that the book isn’t that good. It leads into that feeling of not being a good writer. That leads into that dream-crushing, soul-smashing feeling of depression that spirals without any sort of control or speed limit. (I should probably find some medical help with that, but I have aversion to taking medications that mess with my brain.)

And then, last night, I received an email from one of my readers on an online fan fiction site. They had finished Devil’s Blood 2: Siren’s Snare, and shared their thoughts about it with me. And then – there’s the part that got me – they had taken the time to make a short You Tube video of what they thought the burning blood would looked like.

I cried. I mean, I was so giddy and excited and beyond words. Someone had taken precious time out of their day to create something for me, for Devil’s Blood; I always said that I would squeal if fans started to make things, like fan-art, or fan-fiction, and I did squeal.

It was a huge confidence boost. Like, to the moon kind of boost. Jet fuel. I then proofed another chapter because suddenly it felt worth it.

Rule #2: Persistence – don’t give up because the skies are gray today. It won’t rain forever. The sun will come out. Maybe not tomorrow, or the next day, but someday.

Rule #3: Patience – you won’t be a superstar overnight. Good things take time. Sudden stardom has wrecked more than a few people.

Rule #5: Optimism – if you give up, you’ll never get there. One bad review or one mean beta reader seems like the end of the world, but it’s not. You rebuild. You rewrite. You can do it.