I'm Not A Peeping Tom.. Well, Not Really Anyway

OK.. I admit it.. I'm a bit of a voyeur.  An artistic Peeping Tom if you will....

Now before you turn away in disgust.. I'm not the yucky kind that creeps up in the dark and tries to look in your window.  That's just.. icky.

I'm more the 'read your blog to see what you're doing' sort of voyeur.  People publish blogs because we want people to get a glimpse into our lives.. we're inviting you into our head, saying.. "Here, walk around in this big open space between my ears for a bit.. take a look out these brown-tinted windows up front see what I see."

That's not creepy, but it is voyeuristic a bit. I can only imagine that you're here reading this because you're interested in getting a glimpse into what makes me tick.. so odds are you're a little voyeuristic as well, artistically speaking of course.

So anyway, I've been looking at the blogs of some writers that I follow.. and this past week I've been delving into their past, before they were 'authors'.. back when they were just struggling writers, sorta like me, (and probably  you, if you're reading this)..

.. and the results of my delving has been interesting.

One of the authors I've been reading backstory on is Kiersten White.  (http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/)

She's been on her blog since 2008, and her early stuff from back then is great.. she's hilarious, but also very real.  Her early stuff from 2008 is just great.  She's constantly writing, but she's also questioning herself, struggling to find the positives

Another author I happened upon is Natalie Whipple: (http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/)
What is nice is that Natalie and Kiersten are both friends, and they were friends during their journey from unknown writer to finding their agents.. to both getting publishing deals.

Seeing them interact when they were struggling writers is both inspiring and encouraging.. and incredibly funny as they bounce things off each other and have a hilarious interaction that you can actually watch if you read their blog posts together from month to month.  Natalie started her blog in late 2007 and Kiersten in early 2008.. so you can match up their timelines and watch both of their struggles.. as well as their banter back and forth.

This was just 4 years ago that they were going through their querying.. and numerous rejections as well. Fast-foward 4 years and Kiersten has 3 best-sellers (the Paranormalcy series) and 2 new book deals wtih Harper Teen, (one for a series).. and Natalie has 2 new series that she's sold to Harper Teen as well.. the first books of both come out in 2013.

How's that for a productive 4 years for both!?!!

A sampling of some of their posts that I've found the most relevant for me..

Natalie questioning if her writing is any good, (something I find myself doing at times as well)
http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/2008/05/writers-doubt.html

And her deciding that reading while writing is bad for her psyche,
http://betweenfactandfiction.blogspot.com/2008/01/reading-while-writing.html

I can also definitely relate to Kiersten when she laments the whole querying process,
http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/2008/07/querily-querily-querily-querily.html
http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/2008/08/five-stages-of-querying-grief.html

And I swear she was watching me when she wrote her brilliant "How to write" blog post..
http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-to-write.html

Anyway.. these 2 have rejuvinated, entertained, tickled, and inspired me this past week.

I will occasionally read other author's blogs for advice and inspiration..

J Scott Savage has a great blog for advice, http://jscottsavage.blogspot.com/2008/02/tools-of-trade.html

But James Dashner (http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/)  probably has the best pre-success blog posts I've read so far.. his new website still has them, and I prefer reading his old blogspot blog.. just because that's where I first read it.

He does a great job of grouping his story and advice on the fight about mid-way down the page under the headings: "How I got published", and "Past Questions and Answers".

Anyway.. since you can't write all day long, (at least I can't).. reading these blogs are infinitely more interesting, and productive (at least for me), than staring a the TV.



Comments

  1. Kevin...

    I can't tell you how much I needed this post! How fascinating is this??? I love this! Truly. I don't know how you thought of this, but seriously too cool. I'm off to click on those links. How fun!

    And heh, maybe four years from now, someone will be doing the same thing with us, LOL. *waves to the future peeping tom*

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    Replies
    1. I'm confident we'll get there Morgan. You've got the drive and talent, and I've got.. you to inspire me with your drive and talent. :)

      My goal is to do just like what all these authors have done, get published, and then provide encouragement and suggestions for the next generation of published authors.

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  2. It really is amazing what you can find on authors before they went big. In truth, they struggled just as much as the rest of us. They just never gave up, and I admire that. :)

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