throw away the sides

It’s been…a time. I mean, it’s been a time for all of us, hasn’t it? I’m not going to deep dive into the pain and struggle that was 2020 here. You know what it was like—you were there. And besides, we’re kinda still living it now in 2021; we just know a lot more than we did a year ago. For me, time became a more precious commodity than ever before. There was continuing to work at home full-time, online learning for the kids, maintaining a household that nobody ever leaves (do not recommend)… there was grief, there was loss, there was and continues to be so many emotions that will probably take a long time to process. But what I want to focus on today, in this long overdue blog post, is the fact that in the middle of all that, I managed to carve out enough time to finish my YA Survival Sci-Fi, THE BONE HARVEST, a book that should’ve been finished back in March 2020 until—you guessed it. A global pandemic hit. Who’d have ever guessed that would suddenly become a legitimate reason to not have the time or mental capcity to write? Well, epidemiologists for starters… but I digress.

THE BONE HARVEST is a book that was a long time in the making—the first book I wrote while working full-time and running my own business, with two kids constantly asking me for things like food and entertainment. Such a task is not for the faint of heart. But I finished the book—during a pandemic no less. And along the way, I learned some things about my own writing habits and how to improve and modify them to better suit this busy life. I’m incredibly proud of this book, not just because I finished it, but also because I think it’s pretty great. Writing a book is a series of break-ups and make-ups. Some days you love it, and some days you hate it, and some days you think it’s brilliant and clever, and some days you think you’re a hack who should pack it in once and for all. Usually, by the time I’m finished writing a book, I land somewhere around “this is pretty good.” I feel confident—maybe this book will be the one? But with every book I’ve written, I’ve been reminded of the importance of something I now tell my editing clients: no matter how good or bad or unsure you feel about the finished product, at some point, you’ve gotta let it go.

Allow me to explain: Not long ago, I came across some advice by actor, Michael B. Jordan, who said he throws away his sides after every audition (sides, for those who aren’t familiar with the term, are basically an excerpt from a script, used to isolate just what’s needed for a day of shooting, or an audition). Jordan’s line of thinking is that once he auditions for a role, it’s done, it’s out there, and there’s no longer anything he can do about it. In order for him to move on, to not obsess over it, he ditches the physical reminder and shifts his focus to something new, and I gotta say, I love that approach. It’s advice that can easily apply to a lot of things we want, but can’t control once it’s out of our hands, be it an audition, a query letter, a job application, an interview, etc. After we’ve given something our all, there’s no reason to not let it go. Whenever I tell myself to move on from something, I think of that scene from the Buffy episode, Restless:

Xander: You gotta have something. Gotta be with movin' forward.
Buffy: Like a shark.
Xander: Like a shark with feet and…much less fins.
Spike: And on land.
Giles: Very good!

Very good indeed. Of course, it’s all much easier said than done. And as far as writing a book goes, you’re not exactly going to throw out the manuscript, but I’m personally trying to get better at filing away my notes, not doubting final edits I made, not pondering new revisions I could implement, and most importantly, I’m trying to get better at shifting my focus to the next book I want to write. Because why not? They say the best way to get over one book is to get under another one… err, it’s something like that. Sure, daydreaming about what might be is fun—I’ve spent my fair share of time imagining what it would be like to finally land that elusive book deal—but it’s not exactly the most productive use of time. Moving on to something new is not only a good distraction from that thing you can no longer do anything about, it could lead to something great. After all, the book I just finished was once upon a time my distraction from the book before it and I think it ended up being one of the best things I’ve ever written. If you find yourself dwelling on something while you wait for answers, throw away those sides. Something new and exciting awaits.

So, what about you? Do you obsess over things long after you’re in a position to do anything about them? Do you have a tried and true method to help you move on to something new?