If You Rest, You Rust

WELCOME to the first new post at Hope’s blog. Of course I incorporated the great old posts from the past here as well, but from here on out, this is the home of my blog. I hope you enjoy it’s new parking place. AND take a look around while you’re here.

This site is home to my novels, the latest being Lowcountry Bribe. Hopefully this is the first of many more Carolina Slade mysteries. Available as of TODAY at Amazon. More to come on this in my next post. In the meantime, change your favorites, tell your friends, and sign up for updates while you’re here. We don’t want to lost you at all.

=====

If you rest, you rust.
~ Helen Hayes

Helen Hayes was a teeny lady, an actress who could be sweet yet feisty. My kind of balance. (Just wish I was teeny.) But I can attest to her remark.

I’ve had times when I tired of writing a story, so I put it down for the day. The next day, I cringed thinking of picking it back up, so I gardened or went shopping. Then I decided to write a magazine query. Then enter a contest. Go to the lake. Days go by. I’ve had four months go by when I didn’t pick back up the novel. And it felt like starting all over when I finally did.

What if you attended a class for two months, then quite for two months, then went back, expecting to pick up exactly where you left off. You can’t do it. Memories are fuzzy, and you find yourself rereading material, acclimating back to where you were because you lost some of what you’d gained.

No matter how it mires you down, come back ASAP.

•  When you return from a conference, reconnect with your new friends, pitch those agents and editors, organize your new material, and do all those little tasks you told yourself you’d do when you got home.

• When you get stuck on your story, put it down for only a little time. Could be two hours, could be two days. But the longer you take, the more you lose. One week maximum.

• When you learn new concepts, implement as soon as you can, before you forget the steps.

When life snags your arm and pulls you away, be congenial. But when life wants to stop you from getting back to your writing obligations, shake it loose. Waiting too long is like starting all over, making you work twice as hard for what you want . . . and all you’ve  accumulated in the delay is age.