Celebrate Your Writing Achievements: An #IWSG Post

Mount Everst

Another month has come and gone, and it’s time for the March IWSG post. Today, I’ll try to answer the question:

How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal/finish a story?

I supposed the answer depends in part on how you define writing achievements, or goals for that matter.

The Insecure Writer's Support GroupBefore we get rolling on that, however, let me take a moment thank this month’s most excellent hosts:  Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham,Jennifer Hawes, Diane Burton, and Gwen Gardner!  

Head over to their blogs and check out what they have to say on this topic.  And, if you’re curious about IWSG, click the picture to the left to jump over to their page and see what they’re all about.  You won’t be sorry, I promise.

Okay, back to the question at hand.

Writing a Novel is Like Climbing Mount Everest

Everest Base CampA lot of folks look at Everest and wonder why anyone in their right mind would ever be tempted to try climbing it.  Others can understand the desire but say up front that there’s no way they’re ever going to do it.  Then there are the people ambitious enough to try.  Aspiring novelists are like those people.

We look at that summit, and we think, “Yeah, I can probably do that.” Then, amazingly, some of us do.  Most of us, however, aren’t ever going to see the vista from the top.

Jason Reynolds (a professor at Lesley University and my graduating thesis reader), had a very frank conversation with some of us in the Writing for Young People program about the publishing industry and writing “success.”  He didn’t mince words.  According to Jason, the secret to “making it” as a novelist is to just keep writing.  He’d written something like six books before penning one that took off and did well, financially.  Today, he’s a big name in YA, but only partly because he’s a phenomenal writer.  90% of it, according to him, is that he didn’t let the fatigue of the uphill climb beat him. 

Everest Trek MapHigh altitude climbers trekking up the face of Everest get to the top one step at a time.  Writers get to the end of their novels one word/sentence/paragraph/page at a time.

We can learn a few lessons from those crazy mountaineers.  Specifically: give ourselves a chance to pause and celebrate mid-trek writing achievements.

Every novel has milestones that you should celebrate!

I’m in the middle of my fourth attempt to finish a book.  Behind me lie three partially completed stories.  One was a just-for-fun summer project back in my twenties.  One is interesting but an unfinished structural mess.  The most recent attempt sits waiting for me to come back to it.  I got distracted from it by by my thesis mentor, Chris Lynch.  It’s a long story.  If you want to read about what happened, you can check out my prior post here.  

It has taken me a long time to realize that with each failed attempt, I go into the next project better conditioned and more likely to succeed.  I’m like the optimistic but completely untrained tourist who decides it’d be fun to climb Everest.  First time, I don’t get much past base camp before my body gives out on me.  The second time, I make it to Camp 1 in the Valley of Silence (which should totally be the title for one of my future best-sellers (I did say I was an optimist, remember)), but blisters send me packing.  Third time, I reach Camp 2 at 21,000 feet, hang around for a week to acclimate and then… HAPE sets in and I abandon the climb.

In this ridiculous analogy, I guess I’m also made of money, because it costs about $35,000 to $45,000 per attempt to scale Everest

Everest climbers always take a week or so to hang out at the various camps as they push for the summit.  They rest, hydrate, stockpile calories, let their bodies adjust to the thin air, and they enjoy the views. I think writers should do this too.

Every step is an accomplishment!

Everest Camp 4Did you write every day for a solid week?  Awesome.  Give yourself a pat on the back, crack open a beer (or a high end ginger ale in my case), take a moment to breathe, then push ahead.

Did you write all the way up to the end of the first act? That’s base camp 2, as far as I’m concerned.  Take care of yourself in this moment.  Crack another beer (or soda), relax and enjoy where you are in the process. Mull over the best path forward. Do something fun.  You’ve come a long way, but things are about to get very difficult.

Have you just experienced a brilliant epiphany about your book’s finale, and now the route through the dreaded middle third of your story is clearly visible?  My friend, well done.  You’re sitting at 24,000 feet, the South Col, about to embark upon the big push to the summit.  Take stock of your oxygen reserves.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (maybe not with beer, though), and smile with the knowledge that so many of us shall never get to where you currently are.

Everest at the SummitIf you do successfully summit that manuscript, be sure to photodocument the moment, because whether or not your story ever lands on an indie bookshelf in hardback, you’ve accomplished something truly spectacular.

None of these points are actual end points to the novel writing process.  A book isn’t finished until it’s bound and on the shelf, and even then some authors would argue it’s still not done.  However, embedded within a book are countless writing achievements, each of which merits acknowledgement and celebration.

In my Everest analogy, I’ve just reached the South Col of the Mountain.  For the first time ever, the summit is in sight, the weather looks good, and I think I’m finally conditioned up enough in my skills to get to the top of this thing.

 

How do you celebrate your writing achievements?  Do you hold off until you type “The End,” or do you find spots along the way to stop, rest, and reflect on your intermediary successes?

 

 

Comments

  1. Loni Townsend

    Woot! Keep that goal in sight!

    Yeah, I can’t stand the cold, so Everest would never be a goal for me. At least writing doesn’t come with the discomfort and chance of death!

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  2. lisabuiecollard

    I love the idea of spaces of repose and appreciation for work done well. Thanks for the boost! I’m waiting right now for that ending epiphany!!! Thanks for dropping by my blog…

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      Kathy

      A pleasure to connect with you, Lisa. I’m sure inspiration will strike when you least expect it. Happy writing to you, and thanks for stopping by. 🙂

  3. Suzanne Furness

    Oh wow, this is such a great analogy and fun to read. Writing can be an uphill (or mountain!) struggle at times and it is all to easy to forget to give ourselves a pat on the back as we go along. All the best with your writing Kathy.

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  4. Diane Burton

    This is a fantastic post. Terrific analogy (and pictures). As you pointed out on my blog (thanks, btw), we need to celebrate small advances, reaching short-term goals. I can’t imagine climbing Mt. Everest, but I can imagine finishing a book. So with that to look forward, I aim high. Good luck on reaching your goals, esp. finishing a book.

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      Kathy

      Thanks for stopping by Diane, and for the well wishes. I can’t imagine climbing Everest either, and if I step back and consider the long shot view of writing a novel, it seems equally improbable. That said, I take it one day at a time, one word at a time, and I follow Jason Reynolds’s advice. I just keep writing.

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  5. Gwen Gardner

    That’s an awesome analogy! And you are so right about the conditioning. With each story or book, you get better. Like your mentor said, just keep writing. That’s the single most important piece of advice. Funny, but that was the hardest piece of advice for me to take. But it’s true!

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      Kathy

      I think the “just keep writing” advice is the hardest for most novice writers to take. Glad you stopped by. Hope you’re enjoying the climb up your own literary mountain. 🙂

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  6. kamagrowski

    Great tie-in. It’s so true. Writing is hard work and we should be proud of all our accomplishments.

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