Do the Doing

Not doing anything is a choice inasmuch as doing something is.

And, choices come with consequences.

***

The past couple of weeks, everything having to do with writing and publishing has frustrated me to no end.

The road is long.

Even when writing, rewriting, writing, writing, and some more writing have taken place, the fear that there’s more that can be refined, developed, perfected hangs around like a dark shadow.

Getting the foot in the traditional publishing door is very difficult. Sometimes impossible.

The list goes on.

***

I had completed my FINAL revision, so Nancy said.

But, I wanted to check the manuscript once again,

for careless mistakes,

any inconsistencies,

and any other detail I might have missed.

Sounds easy enough, right?

***

Not so for me.

Fear of failure probably played a significant role.

***

But, if I don’t go forward with this manuscript,

I’ll never know;

because I will have sabotaged any opportunity

to see this writing,

that I’m passionate about sharing with others,

for everyone’s benefit,

succeed.

***

So, I decided to take action that will continue moving me forward, toward publishing.

Tuesday, I had headshots taken by the amazing photographer, Jeremy, at Jeremy Rill Photography. Having photographs taken of me is always a daunting task in itself, but he made it fun. And I am eagerly awaiting the photos I’ve chosen. In the meantime, there’s this proof, to look at and enjoy:

I stopped worrying about what amazing things other people are doing for publishing and focused on my stuff. Comparing never ends well. I wasn’t doing that when I took this side mirror shot. I just loved the composition, the colors, the flow, all of it.

This doesn’t have directly to do with publishing, but I went on an artist date with one of my really good friends today (you know who you are) and had a really great time. Here are some of the photos I took today.

 

Lily Chang © 2018

Pretty amazing, right?

I felt encouraged, refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to finish tweaks to the manuscript, and,

as of tonight,

Viola, I’m done.