Write First, Obsess Later

Ever felt like you were in a state of info overload? Yeah, I know that feeling and it sucks. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, allow me to explain. See, I'm an aspiring author. Until the day I'm actually published, that will be my identifier. My name is Amber Kae Rogers and I am an aspiring author. Gee, I'm starting to feel like I'm at an AA meeting or something.

Anyway, info overload is when you obsessively surf the web in the name of research only to come out feeling like you've just been tossed around a tornado while straddling a bucking bull. In other words, it looks little something like this:

Do not let this happen to you people. This was me after last weekend. I'd spent two full days locked away in my little cubby apartment practically glued to my laptop. Currently, I'm querying agents. So far, it's been a tough ride, but not as bad as it's been in the past.

Saturday and Sunday, I was all over twitter in full on stalker mode. I skimmed blogs. I browsed old forum threads on Absolute Write looking for any mention of my prospective agents and hoping to find some hidden interview that they'd done that I'd missed or some tweet I hadn't read. Needless to say, it consumed me. This is not healthy behavior. Finally, I had to pull back. I had to rein in the anxiety and have a talk with myself. Soon, I realized that I couldn't go on doing this to myself.

By the end of this fiasco, I felt like I'd accomplished nothing. My point is that no matter where you are in the publishing process whether it's submission to an agent or to an editor, don't let yourself become obsessive. I can tell you for experience (an yes, I am the queen of obsession) that no matter how many of those agent blogs you read or how many industry friends you have on twitter, none of it means nothing if you aren't writing. If you're wasting time reading those blogs or tweets, you're losing precious time that you should be using on perfecting that latest WIP.

Don't let the stress of it all drive you insane. Don't let those doubtful voices and obsessive thoughts crowd your head with nonsense that's trying to convince you of the negative.

Research in moderation. Relax and remember to breathe. If all else fails, don't forget that first and foremost, you are a writer. Keep everything else on the back-burner where it should be. Write first, obsess later. Hmm, I like that. One day, I think I might tattoo that on my arm.