*Sorry, this ended up being very long-winded. I bolded the more relevant information to your question.*I understand completely what you mean! I’ve posted small snippets of writing with short stories on blogs, but I’ve always been reluctant to share them with my network of people.
I decided I wanted to actually do something with the novels I’ve been working with over the years, so I posted one on Inkshares and then was encouraged to join the Geek & Sundry contest and start funding.
I did a lot of research on how to run a successful campaign, and it all seemed to boil down to messaging literally everyone you’ve ever met and asking them to support you. I started easy, with people that I knew I could count on. Then, I branched out to people I was acquainted with, and then I moved on to people that I sort-of-kind-of-knew. All of these, even down to messaging people I know very well, has been an introvert’s anxiety induced nightmare.
This has been an exhausting adventure, made more exhausting by the fact that I’m introverted and it is really hard to ask people for help or to support me. I’m only a month into a three-month contest/campaign and going forward seems daunting.
I’ve already gotten nasty messages from people, sadly most were authors that I did nearly free or completely free design work for and had felt confident they would return the favor of with their support. The response rate, or lack-thereof from people that I know has been equally disheartening. The need to keep up in a contest that is solely driven on the amount of people you know, and can get onboard with your project, and less about the quality of your writing is exhausting, especially for writers who are not comfortable with sharing their work or do not have a vast network.
My saving grace has been in my very close friends who have pushed the book to their network, and when I say push, I mean going to people personally (friends, family, and co-workers) and getting them on board with pre-ordering.
Yesterday, I took a big hit in the motivation area. When you realize the campaign or contest you’re in is very carrot-and-stick with the prize continuously moving forward and you continuously chasing it, on top of tumble-weed replies or cricket responses in your network, you get knocked a couple of pegs in that department. When I get bummed a friend says, "You’re allowed to throw a pity party for one day, and then the next day you get back to work."
I’ve been through a lot in life, things far worse than the stress of this campaign, and so I have to remind myself that this is a cakewalk, even if losing will close a really great door for me. I grew up poor, I worked to put myself through college while taking care of my elderly grandmother. I gave all of myself, emotionally and monetarily, to parents and to the point I had to move a thousand miles away, with little money and no job, in order to save what was left of me. I’ve been desperate. I’ve been broken. I’ve cried myself to sleep nights on end, but no matter what happened in life I kept pushing. I worked endlessly, and I still do. Sixteen hour work days are "normal days" for me.
Motivation. When I’m tired, when I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I wonder why I keep going on, I think about what I want in life. I think about that goal and I let myself feel how much I want it. I let myself understand how much I truly want it, and I press on. I learned the hard way that, for most of us, nothing is ever given in life. For most of us, the only way to ever to see that goal fulfilled is to want something bad enough that you’ll give anything and do anything to accomplish it. What I learned about motivation is that it is best found in that fire that burns inside you. Motivation is found in that burning, soaring, breaking need to have that one thing that you’ve always wanted and the willingness to do anything it takes to succeed. When you lose motivation, seek that flame inside you. Seek that goal, and remind yourself of why you do what you do. Let that fire drive you onward.
Sorry for the longness, it is a personal problem with finding it hard to write short things. I wrote a blog post a while back about motivation and goals, you can find it
here.
I understand completely what you mean! I’ve posted small snippets of writing with short stories on blogs, but I’ve always been reluctant to share them with my network of people.