And the Liebster goes to...

I don't usually post on Thursdays, but today is an exception because I've just received my first blog award! The Liebster is mine!Yeah, the crowd goes wild.

 

 

I was nominated by Laurie Meyers for "doing so well managing social media". If Laurie says it, it must be true. Of course, I owe all my new found knowledge to the wonderful Robert Lee Brewer for all his sage advice during April's Platform Challenge.

 

So what is a Liebster? This is an award given to small blogs for being generally awesome at something. Yep, pretty vague. I tried to search for how the whole thing got started, but apparently even Google doesn't know. Here's what we do know. "Liebster" is German meaning favorite or dearest, and it's used to showcase up and coming bloggers.

 

Here are the Liebster rules:

* Thank the person who nominated you by linking back to them. (See Laurie's link above)

* Nominate up to five blogs with less than 200 followers.

* Let the nominees know they rock by leaving a comment on one of their blog posts.

* Add the Liebster image below so all your readers can know how awesome you are.

 

So here are my Liebster nominees. All these folks have one thing in common. They all rocked to the end in Robert's April Platform Challenge. So congrats to the following blogs for having the perseverance to fight to the finish:

 

Susan P Dumpy Grace Writes a Novel 

Michelle Reynoso My Writing Life

Lynn Daue Rhymes with Tao

Melanie Cole The Writing Life of Melanie Cole

Alvarado Frazier Alvarado Frazier

Now go check them out!

A Writerly Kind of Love

Last month I experienced a writer's high when I finished my most recent MS.  After working on this novel for over a year it was liberating to finally see the whole thing down on paper.  After months of pounding out words whenever I had five free minutes I would be able to lie down at night without obsessing about the next scene to write.

I wanted to get started on edits right away, but I heeded the advice of countless authors and decided to let it sit.  Besides, I needed the break and my next story was begging to be mapped out.

Last week I finally opened back up the document to start the editing process, but instead of the bubbling excitement I expected to feel at seeing my characters again, I was filled with dread.  As I read each chapter, I was overwhelmed with the realization of how much editing I needed. 

I have plot holes, bad name choices, passive voice, ludicrous dialogue tags and cheesy cliches all over the place.  I got to work, but the truth be told, I wasn't into it.  For the first time in a long time, I was no longer enjoying the writing process.

Still, I trudged on, until this weekend when something amazing happened.  After slicing the first 6,000 words, removing three minor characters and polishing my dialogue until is shined, I am in love with my first chapter.  All 3,000 words of it are spectacular.  At least, I think they are.  And right now that's all I need.

Sure, I loved my novel before, but it was more like a high school kind of love.  All shiny and new with tons of 'firsts' to keep me hooked. But even though I sang its praises to the moon, I knew my love for this first draft couldn't last...they never do.

But this love is different.  I can see myself settling down with this first chapter, sending it out with my queries, posting it to critique groups.  I imagine a future with this chapter and it makes my heart sing!

And...it makes me realize that all those other chapters waiting in the wings aren't good enough for me.  They are going to need some serious work to be worthy of following this new first chapter.  But instead of dreading it, I'm excited again. and back to enjoying the process.

What is the hardest part for you in the writing process?  What keeps you going when the writing gets tough?