L.I.T.E.R.A.L. #4: What will make you truly feel that you’ve made it as a writer?

L.I.T.E.R.A.L. is a weekly blog meme for authors hosted at Indie Books. We created it to serve as a support group for participants of the Author at Once workshops, but we welcome all writers (from anywhere in the world) who’d like to weigh in on the topics! 

Here’s our L.I.T.E.R.A.L. topic for the week of 19-25 November 2012:

“What will make you truly feel that you’ve made it as a writer? Seeing your byline? Holding the book in your hands? Seeing it climb up the charts? Your first book launch? What will finally get you to tell people that yes, you are a writer?”

There was this moment, in June 2009, when I first saw my book on an actual bookstore shelf.

But soon that wasn't enough, still didn't call myself a writer, or felt like one. I felt that I needed another moment to arrive, maybe that would make it seem more real. So the next "moment" was when I saw the first review for my book. And then it was my first fan email. And then it was the release of my second book. And so on. It was like I was expecting a change, but it was taking a while.

What I learned since then is that I shouldn't wait until that thing happens before calling myself a "writer." Writers write, so yes, I was doing that, and I guess that's what I always was.

(I just retconned my life there! You can do it too.)

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L.I.T.E.R.A.L. 2: What gets you in the mood to write?

L.I.T.E.R.A.L. is a weekly blog meme for authors hosted at Indie Books. We created it to serve as a support group for participants of the Author at Once workshops, but we welcome all writers (from anywhere in the world) who’d like to weigh in on the topics!

Here’s our L.I.T.E.R.A.L. topic for the week of 20-27 August 2012:

Now let’s share how we get things done. What gets you in the mood to write? Is it a deadline, a prize, a pushy editor? Can you recall your most productive writing session ever? What triggered it?

I used to want peace, maybe a cup of tea, and soft music to get into a writing mood. Recently though I've been training myself to write on a schedule, and whenever I can. I guess I've become my own pushy editor that way.

This is difficult to do, so I try to maximize my time. When I'm in a cab, I go over plot points in my head, or brainstorm for character names. I quickly type any workable ideas on my smartphone (Evernote is a great app for this), and refer to my notes when I do have time to sit down and write.

My most productive writing session ever though was probably the entire month that I wrote -- and finished -- My Imaginary Ex. Prior to that I had been revising another story, going back and forth with my editor, for months and months and months. That story didn't have IT, whatever it was. After each revision, I was filled with more and more MEH, so much MEH that I didn't want to touch that story anymore. So I put it away and feverishly started writing a new one, something I felt excited about, something that incorporated all the helpful comments from my editor, but without the baggage of revising.

I haven't been able to finish a novel that quickly again. Maybe I just need to push myself some more?

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L.I.T.E.R.A.L. 1: Have you ever been published?

So this is one thing we came up with to help the writers from Author at Once (and everyone else, really) stick to their goal of finishing a manuscript and getting their names out as authors. We'll just have to prompt you all to keep writing, and do it together! Feel free to join in at your own blog, or in the comments section below, or over at Indie Books!

L.I.T.E.R.A.L. is a weekly blog meme for authors hosted at Indie Books. Created to serve as a support group for participants of the Author at Once workshops, but we welcome all writers (from anywhere in the world) who’d like to weigh in on the topics!

For our first ever L.I.T.E.R.A.L. topic, let’s start with something simple:
Has your book/story/epic been published? If yes, how was the experience, and where can we buy your book? If no (or not yet), why the delay? Is there anything you know you should be doing to make it happen?

Yes, I've been published, and the experience was nerve-wracking but exciting. My first novel My Imaginary Ex was picked up by Summit Media and a few months later it was in all the major bookstores -- magically almost. I wasn't involved in much of the behind the scenes of publishing it, like the editing or the layouts and marketing, but I did go on a radio show tour to help promote it. (Fun!) This I guess is now called the "traditional publishing" route, and even though I independently publish my own work too I still develop books for a traditional release. It's still the best way to get into Philippine bookstores, as of right now at least!

Though it's a few years old, I still see the book sometimes in National, Powerbooks, or Fully Booked. Half price by now, go get it! :)

Hope you all participate in L.I.T.E.R.A.L.!