Sabotage Salvation

by Ruth Brown

The following article appeared in the February 2006 issue of Smoke Signals, newsletter of the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers. May be used with credit.

Just like we must be firm, maybe step on a few toes or confront someone sabotaging our efforts to betterment, we must thwart our own subconscious tactics to sabotage the desired author career.

In a previous article, I listed a few points to help a writer in denial recognize that he/she is a saboteur. Here is a list of salvaging acts we can do to get on track.

• Quit hiding your manuscript. Submit!
  
• Seek critique and listen with an open mind.
  
• Write down reasonable writing goals with a time frame and share.
  
• Set up a "ready now" writing nook. Once set up, the most you should need to do is turn on the computer. Limit snack/drink fetching to no more than 5 minutes.
  
• Attend chapter meetings for a support boost and discuss your progress.
  
• Designate writing time and log your hours. Reward yourself when you reach milestones: a great hook, chapter completion, manuscript completion, a mailed query, etc.

Whatever barriers you place in your way, you can remove them.

Recognize what you might be doing to sabotage your writing career, fix it and write!

Ruth Brown writes romantic suspense. For more about her, visit www.ruthlbrown.com

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