
Spoiler alert and Warning: This podcast episode ended up being so off-the-wall and kind of explicit because there is a ton of swear words because we recorded the “Random Thoughts” at night after a party. Also, Shaun calls Carrie “stupid.”
He is not yet forgiven.
Back to Our Regular Podcast: This podcast is supposed to be about living the best life and the best writing life that you can and that… my friends… that can be a process. Cough.
But…
Carrie just ended a six-month stint teaching a class called Write! Submit! Support!, which was run by the Writing Barn in Austin. It’s an online class that follows a distance program MFA, but with the added bonus of adding community and support to each other via support partners, online classes and Facebook groups.
Carrie taught this program, but she also learned a lot, and the thing she learned is that she had it easy.
She got a book contract about twelve months after she decided to become a writer. But that’s weird and it’s abnormal, and a couple years later her books series magically became an international and NYT bestseller. This is also weird and abnormal.
She took it for granted.
And during this program, she was once again reminded that there are other writers out there who are brilliant and talented and still haven’t been published.
It isn’t because those writers aren’t amazing. They are talented and clever and their stories rock. It’s random things that didn’t happen for them the way they happened for her.
And she learned in the past six months that for most people the key to success? It’s being relentless.
That’s right – relentless.
There is no giving up.
Something blocks the path? Fix it. Charge into writing and submitting and the writing life with focused action and determination and do not give up. Ever.
That’s what makes a difference.
Be relentless. Fix mistakes. Never stop moving forward toward the goal of being a writer. Quitting doesn’t let success happen.
Focus on the problems in the book and then in the career. Book is boring? Fix it. Characters are flat? Fix them. Need an agent? Begin looking for one. Current agent doesn’t work well for you? Find another one. Be relentless.
You deserve to succeed. Be relentless for yourself.
That is hard to do sometimes if you have a certain personality type (Hint: Carrie’s), but it’s so essential.
Relentlessness is basically persistence on steroids. Do it. You deserve it. Don’t give up. Make the world hear you. You deserve to be heard.
Writer Tip of the Cast:
Writers act like we can’t fix our own problems. We can. Just like we take control of the book we are writer, we can take control of our life and our career.
Dog Tip for Life:
Relentless cuteness gets you treats
Shout-Out
The music in this podcast is “Check Them In” by Ema Grace and her site is here. We’re able to use this amazing music, thanks to Ema’s kindness and the Creative Commons.
Writing News
The Spy Who Played Baseball is a picture book biography about Moe Berg. And… there’s a movie out now about Moe Berg, a major league baseball player who became a spy. How cool is that?
You should totally buy Carrie’s book about Moe. It’s awesome and quirky and fun.
OUR PODCAST DOGS ARE SMARTER THAN PEOPLE.
Thanks to all of you who keep listening to our weirdness as we talk about random thoughts, writing advice and life tips. We’re sorry we laugh so much… sort of. Please share it and subscribe if you can. Please rate and like us if you are feeling kind, because it matters somehow.
Writing Coach
Carrie offers solo writing coach services, but she’s also teaching a Write! Submit! Support! six-month class online via the Writing Barn in Austin. For details about that class, check out this link. For more about Carrie’s individual coaching, click here.
Ebook on Sale for July
And finally, for the month of July, my book FLYING is on sale in ebook version on multiple platforms, which means not just Amazon. It’s a cheap way to have an awesome read in a book that’s basically Men in Black meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with chocolate-covered pretzels.
Appearance
Carrie will be at The Books-A-Million in South Portland, Maine on August 8.