I recently decided to make the most insane decision ever.

I gave up Twitter and Facebook for Lent.

*taking a deep breath and wiping sweat from my brow*

When I told my husband he had an interesting reaction. He said, “Aren’t you just going to be hurting your platform by doing that instead of helping?”

To which I said, “I don’t think so. I’ll still be blogging.”

Bu then I sat back and thought about all the tweeting I do with agents and other authors and began to wonder, am I hurting myself more than helping?

Well regardless the choice has been made and I intend to stick with it.

Do you think taking a break from social networking would hinder your career as a writer? Would you be able to give it up for a full 40 days and 40 nights?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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I’ve read many a post where everyone lists their play lists for their manuscripts or their blogs. Back in the acknowledgment sections of books the author will sometimes list the music they listened to religiously while creating their story. It is everywhere! For some reason or another people find it necessary to listen to music while they write.

Those people have much larger attention spans than I!

I just can’t do it. Maybe it’s a form of ADHD or something, but I can not concentrate on any type of music (unless there are no lyrics) while I write. Maybe it even has something to do with the fact that whenever I hear a song I either have to A. Listen to the lyrics or B. Sing to the lyrics.

So do you listen to music as you write? If so, how do you do it!? Is there a certain type of music that works best?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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It’s kinda like getting ready for the first day of school. You know it’s coming. It could be a week or a month away. Or maybe even a day. But you are super nervous.

Do you have the right outfit?(Aka:Is your query letter up to par?)

Do your shoes match and will anyone have the same pair? (Does the story match the tone of your letter and OMG is it original enough. The last thing we want to do is be Cliche’)

Will the hot popular kids like you? (Can we say Nathan Bransford? And every other agent on your FAVORITES list!)

What if nobody likes you? (Le Sigh…rejections…)

The list goes on and on. But really they are no different. It’s nerve wrecking. It’s terrifying. And more often than not the negative things DO happen.

So what is a writer to do when they are so nervous they are thinking about doing an entire extra round of edits just to postpone the scary hairy rejection scene?

STOP!

You’ve gotten this far have you not?

Have you not worked and toiled and edited and pulled your hair out and cried and laughed and written till your fingers bled and cramped and made everyone you know and their mother read and reread your manuscript and and and and and!?

Take the chance already!!!

If you are worried about agents rejecting, pick a hand full of your not so super duperlicious favorites and query them first. See what happens.

Do they love it? Do they hate it?

Do they all request a full? If so, start querying the big dogs. If not rework your query. Enlist some help!  Purchase Elana Johnson’s From the Query to he Call. Do everything you can to make your letter shine.

THEN query a second handful of agents.

Repeat the process until it cannot be repeated. If it gets to the point where you are getting no where then maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy. But don’t give up. And don’t hold back out of fear.

Get your book out there already! And good luck!!!

(Says the pot calling the kettle black! Wait…I kinda want to be the kettle. You can be the pot today!)

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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Once upon a time, in a land far away, when a girl couldn’t catch a break or a snow day, a book was completed and editing had began everywhere. The characters grew nervous, afraid to be cut. The plot bit it’s fingers, desperately hoping it’s holes would not be seen. After all, how embarrassing is it to be filled with gaping holes and missing moments? But the worst off in the land was the author. She had sent off the entire manuscript to be critiqued for the first time. She knew the characters well and she felt dearly close to the plot. The moment the hit send and her characters were gone her stomach filled with butterflies and a wave of nausea hit her from behind. It was pure agony. She would now have to sit back like a mom who had just sent her baby to school for the first time and wait for her characters and plot to return. She hoped they would not get beaten up or mocked. She longed for them to be well received and loved. After all, she had crafted them so gently.

So she sat and she waited, and waited, and waited….

To be continued…

P.S. I’m the author! Waiting is the name of the game and I’m STILL nauseous. How did you feel the first time you first sent your manuscript off to be critiqued?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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My husband wants a dog. I am not what you would call “a dog person”.

I don’t like dogs. Not even a little. They smell bad. They try to lick you. They jump. They bark. The give your legs some pretty awkward hugs, over and over and over and over again. They drool. They are a lot of work! I’m already taking care of three kids and a husband. I really don’t need to add a dog to that.

My kids on the other hand love dogs, as does my husband, so I’m feeling a bit outvoted.

What would your characters do it their significant other brought home a dog they were not expecting? Are they “a dog person”? If not, why? Is it the smell?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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That’s right…you heard me! I kinda likes me a little complication here and there. Well not in real life of course, but in a book … nothing better I tell ya! I love being confused and wondering how, when, why and what the @?#*! It’s these questions that keep me reading.

I started to tell my husband about a story I was writing and he just looked at me and said, “Wow, that’s kinda complicated. Maybe a little too complicated.”

Now I could have sat back and been offended, and lets be honest, for a moment I was. But then … then I sat back and thought to myself. Yeah, this is pretty complicated … Perfect!

How do you feel about complications? Do you welcome them with open arms as though they were the prodigal son? Or do you tend to shy away from them as not to confuse your readers?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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