We sometimes forget as we dash through our days full of deadlines and proposals and promo work what it was like to first put pencil to paper, to first send out a proposal, or meet with an agent at a conference. We might have buried the memory of that first rejection letter, or the second, or the fiftieth except as an anecdote while we share our (current) success story.
When a newbie writer asks a question so basic we feel they should have learned the answer in elementary school, how many of us remember angsting over lines per page and perfect format as if that alone would guarantee acceptance by one of the publishers? Or buying the best quality typing paper we could afford in hopes of recognition. I sure do.
In discussion with authors from chapters across the country, I hear stories of chapters imploding from expectations of unpublished authors who demand help from the published. On the other hand I hear stories from unpublished authors who can’t even get an answer to how to set up a blog. Somewhere in the middle is that healthy place of compromise and share.
Orange County has that great program of “Ask An Author,” but OCC has been innovative in so many ways. But it’s not just the published authors who can step up. Anyone who has attended a GMC talk can tell a neophyte GMC stands for Goal, Motivation, Conflict. NaNo refers to a mad dash to produce a book in a month, at the end of which you either love or hate your characters and it’s a tossup whether your hands or your bottom are more numb, All of us have knowledge to share.
I’m hoping these ideas spread to other chapters, large and small, to keep the chapters and RWA healthy and supportive of romance writing.
Monica Stoner writes as Mona Karel, and has two books available for your perusal
Teach Me To Forget and My Killer My Love
When she’s not blogging about basic promo or low carb cooking Mona’s Blog she’s enjoying life at 6500 feet in New Mexico, surrounded by a bunch of silly skinny dogs. And writing, writing, writing
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