Today I got my first rejection letter from an agent.  Rejection is prevalent in publishing.  But should we as writers expect it?  No.  In researching the publishing industry the one thing that is common is no one knows what makes a book a bestseller.  If the author is already successful, one who’s had traction from prior books, a fan following, then, yes, it’s one indication that the next book will be a bestseller.  Other than that, what makes a bestseller is a mystery.

So when an industry professional says anything negative about your work, what should you do?  See if the judgment has any validity.  If not, ignore it.

For those of us who love gorgeous women, Catherine Bell is a successful actress.  She’s been in hit TV shows such as JAG and Army Wives. A long time ago I saw an interview of hers, and the interviewer asked her if she had taken acting lessons.  She said yes, and then went on to say that one of her well known instructors told her that she’d never make it and couldn’t act.  Look at her filmography and tell me if she’s successful or not.

Around the same time, I watched a special on  George Lucas.  In it, either him or one of his classmates talked about one of their film instructors.  The instructor said, paraphrasing here, there was no future in film making, and they should all drop out.  What?

Not only that, but when he was making Star Wars, most of the English cast stated how ridiculous this movie was.  How it would never succeed.  That must have affected Lucas because he thought his movie was going to flop.  History tells otherwise.

One thing I’ve found with all successful people is they pursue their dream, their truth.  To me success is not only financial abundance, but spiritual and mental happiness.  Without happiness, what I believe to be the meaning of life, what good does money do?  Cause you can’t buy happiness.  The credit industry is proof of that.

The question becomes how far should we persevere to fulfill our dreams?  Or is there an end?

My first post in Writer’s Journey talked about where I got the idea for my hero of my book.  He’s single handedly inspired me to create the world he lives in.

In my bio, I talk about recurrences that happen.  A lot of self-help teachers call these inspirations, nuggets of gold, moments of genius.  Over the twenty or so years, bits and pieces of ideas have come and gone, all pertaining to this particular story.   Then someone in my imagination said, “This would be cool for your story.”  I might need to seek some help.

I’ve mentally collected different nuggets of gold and stored them  in my noggin.  When I got serious and decided to write this book, I bought a tiny notebook and wrote down every single nugget of inspiration.  To my surprise, I’ve used most of them.  About a quarter of the ideas I threw out.  That’s fine.  Better to have more than you need.

When I read or hear other artists talk about where they get their ideas, a lot of them use this method of collecting, writing them down.  JK Rowling did this.  I saw a special on her where she would write on napkins, cards, anything that would take ink.  I think if I tried to write this story early on in my life, I may not have had the opportunity to gather the ideas that I need.

Get a notebook.  For me ideas come when I do the most mundane things.  I’ll be walking and all of a sudden, pop.  An idea.

A word of caution.  These ideas are fleeting.  There have been a number of times when I’m taking a shower, I get an idea, I take a moment to remember it, and poof.  It’s gone.  Take the time to write these golden nuggets down.  It’s these gold pieces of ideas that may change your writing, project, life.

Happy gathering.

I was around 14 or 15 years old. I had a good friend who drew well, and it seemed the pencil, pen, or paint brush did as he pleased. It was effortless for him. One day he drew a picture that I just couldn’t take my eyes off of. He gave me the picture of the creature, and I put a human face on it.

My hero for my first completed book was born.

I didn’t know it at the time. I was facinated by this person. I imagined a whole race of these creatures. I wondered who he was, the culture he lived in, the environment he’d made his life in, his profession, his character traits, etc. I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, take my mind off of him. I was obsessed.

I wanted to somehow make a story from this character. I wanted to express my inherent love and affection this creature that inspired me. But I was in junior high school. What did I know about anything?

Little did I know this person would follow me over the next 20 years to inspire the first book that I’ve completed. Little did I know I found something that would drive me to no end to get this out into the world.