Tuesday, April 13, 2010

My Journey to Publication - Part 3



Seems last time we were talking about this, we stopped at December 2005, when I graduated from Long Ridge Writers Group.

As much as I was thrilled to be done with the course, the task of daily writing is much harder to keep up when you're not working on deadline. My monthly articles for Destiny 3 Fiction were something to look forward to, but they didn't exactly take 27 days out of the month to perfect.

Lack of a regular schedule led to all sorts of nasty things: procrastination, Internet surfing, and plain ole goofing off. Gasp! Me? Can you believe it?

Then an even worse thing for productivity happened--my gig at Destiny 3 Fiction ended when the editor pulled the plug on the online mag. Sigh, so much for those clips.

I hung out sometimes at the Long Ridge Forum, a resource for their students. My relationship with the editor of Destiny 3 Fiction led me to an online writers forum, StoryCrafters, where I am still a member. Not as much going on there these days, but would love to perk up the place.

Then the next greatest thing for my writing career happened--I heard about the Muse Online Writers Conference.



Read Part 2 here!

9 comments:

V.R. Leavitt said...

Nooo!! Not procrastination! I know nothing about such things. ;-) Ahh, the Muse Online Conference...total online writing conference awesomeness! Last year was my first year and I was so blown away.
Great to read more of your story!!

Janet Ann Collins said...

How do you tell the difference between procrastination and internet marketing through social network sites?

Dorothy Thompson said...

LOL, love Janet's answer. We know we need to do it but it takes up so much time. Love hearing about your journey to publication, Cheryl! How many months do you have left?

Cheryl said...

LOl! Vanessa, you're a riot. I am so pumped for this year's Muse Conference.

That's a good one, Janet. I'm on FB and Twitter every day, so I'm not sure I have the answer. I'm still good at putting things off, but I tend to do it less when I have a plan.

Hey Dot, not quite sure on the time frame yet, but the publisher emailed me this week to say that the illustrator sent her some artwork for the book. I should be seeing some of it soon. Can't wait.

Thanks for dropping in everyone.

Cheryl

Paul and Karen said...

I definitely need to plan better. Great blog post, and cool journey, Cheryl! Love the Muse Online Conference.

Karen
editor
http://museituppublishing.com

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

I read through your journey entries. Great posts.

I totally understand procrastination. How do you think I got here? But I'm glad I did.

I'm also a graduate of Breaking Into Print. Sounds like you had a good experience. I didn't feel the same. I produced stories because of the assignments but really didn't get any further than I was before the course. The stories were good, but still not publishable. I'm still working toward this goal. I did have one story published at Long Story Short in March.

Join a critique group. They can keep you busy and producing. You may also learn something new.

Good Luck.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

I'm enjoying reading about your life, Cheryl. And the Muse Conference has been inspiring for me, as well.

Bev

Donna McDine said...

Deadlines and goals definitely keep me on task. I've enjoyed getting to know you more through your publishing journey. I too love the Muse Online Writers Conference. It's launched many careers!

NancyCL said...

Cheryl,
Thanks so much for sharing! You're the best....