It’s been a crazy week. Which is pretty normal for a writer. You never really know what’s going to happen to you from one day to the next, one week to the next. Nor do you know when you’re going to have the opportunity to either get your work into the hands of someone unexpected or be able to market your work. Or, even more importantly, what will inspire you to greater heights of creativity and productivity.

So, let’s take this in stages:

• The hands. This comes under the category of “giving it away”. Because you never know when an opportunity will strike – even in the “virtual” and “vicarious” veins. Many may have seen my SQUEE filled posts last week regarding my “celebrity NON-endorsements” (or whatever the “neutral” version of that word would be). Even if they never ever read the chapbook, for a brief moment of photographic history, Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton held my independent project.
o The other hands – you should always be prepared – either with a hard copy, or some way to produce an electronic copy (generally via email) – to hand over some kind of sample of your work to any editor, publisher, agent, or producer that expresses interest in your work after a reading, panel, or conversation. These are people who can do something to advance your career, and whether or not it happens, it’s worth the investment. You never know what doors this will open!
• Marketing Opportunities – Here’s the deal, marketing can happen anywhere at any time. This past weekend, I had my annual eye doctor’s appointment – my second appointment with this doctor’s office. The medical assistant (and yes, I’m kicking myself for not getting her name. Bad Rhonda, no biscuit) remembered me from last year and from dropping off a Redheads of the Apocalypse to the doctor. She is a potential writer, and we had a nice chat. The return here may not be as evident as the first point, but even more valuable. No writer is an island. Seriously.
• As for inspiration – Here’s the thing, sometimes you don’t even have to go to a convention to be inspired by it. My husband went to San Diego Comic Con without me (again). However, there’s an even m ore serious plan in place to have me go next year. To that end, I have some serious plans in place to make sure there’s a way to do Step 1 up there. I have old scriptwork that needs polishing. I’m currently working on three novels – two that need finishing and one that needs writing by the end of 2011 (plenty of time!). The “what could be” is motivating me to get moving faster, better, etc (We have the technology!). There have already been a few glitches, but the desire and intent is good.

So, if you want to be a writer – really, really want to be a writer, you know what you have to do. You have to write. You have to market. And you have to be great at both. Make the time. Make the effort. It’s not really that hard once you make the decision. I’ve made mine. How about you?