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New Release: EMOTIONAL WOUND THESAURUS #writerspersevere



Hi everyone! Today I have a special post as part of the Writers Persevere event that authors Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are running for the next few days to celebrate their newest book, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma. This book explores the difficult experiences embedded in our characters' backstory which will shape their motivation and behavior afterward. Check out my 5-star review HERE.

To help them celebrate this release, many of us are posting stories about some of the obstacles we’ve overcome as writers. As we all know, this isn’t an easy path. Writing is hard and as writers we tend to struggle with doubt. Sometimes too, we don’t always get the support we need to follow our passion, or we have added challenges that make writing more difficult. Because people are sharing their stories this week about how they worked through these challenges to keep writing, I wanted to post about it, too.

~*~

I never intended to become a writer, but life is what happens when we're making our plans.

I was lucky to land my psychologist dream job in 2000. Too bad it turned into a nightmare by 2007. My bosses didn't value my work and made threats to my livelihood. At that time, I became hooked on the TV show, Prison Break. Its dark themes and conspiracy theories matched my workplace misery. Through connecting with rabid Prison Break fans across the world, I learned about fan fiction. What? Hacks writing stories about TV stories?

You guessed it--I became one of those hacks and started writing my own fan fiction. At first my writing stunk but my TV show buddies encouraged me to keep going. When reality sucked, I turned to fiction. I left my bitter job and started a new job at a friendly, supportive clinic that taught me a useful specialty. Inspired by fan fiction, I wrote thousands of words and then found a publisher to launch those words into the universe.

I'm now working on my eighth novel. In a strange twist of events, I returned to the old job in 2013 and version 2.0 is going swimmingly.

My emotional wound is a great example of how pain can lead to beauty and strength. Write on, friends!

~*~

Do you have a story to share, or some advice for others? You can join Becca and Angela at Writers Helping Writers from October 25-27th, where we are celebrating writers and their stories of perseverance. Stop in, and tell them about a challenge or struggle your faced, or if you like, write a post on your own blog and share it using the hashtag #writerspersevere.  Let’s fill social media with your strength and let other writers know that it’s okay to question and have doubts but we shouldn’t let that stop us. 

GIVEAWAY ALERT! 

There’s a prize vault filled with items that can give your writing career a boost at Writers Helping Writers

I would love for one of you to win something that will help you get closer to your goal! 

Comments

I never intended to become a writer either. Funny how situations can set us up for an adventurous path we didn't expect.
Glad things are now well on the job front.
Jennifer Lane said…
Thank you, Alex! I'm glad we both embraced this adventure, as unexpected as it might be.
Angela Ackerman said…
Wow, what a neat path! I am so glad that you made the jump into fan fiction. I love how it became a pathway for people to test out the writing waters with characters and worlds well known to them. And look where it has brought you! And I had no idea about that with you Alex, either. Thank goodness you both found your creative sides!

Thanks for sharing this story, Jennifer!

Angela
cleemckenzie said…
It's all about overcoming obstacles, isn't it? Great stories in this #writersperservere!
Jennifer Lane said…
Angela, congratulations on your fantastic new book! You're exactly right that fan fiction was the ideal way to start writing due to ready-made characters and backstory.

C Lee, thanks for stopping by and good luck overcoming any obstacles in your path.
Stephanie Faris said…
I made my way to writing the long way, as well. I think it calls us when we're ready! And we can't resist that call...
Nicki Elson said…
This book sounds fantastic - like something all writers should read.

I'm so glad your wound led you to discover your passion and talent for writing. My life would be less shiny without my wonderful crit partner in it. :)
Jennifer Lane said…
Stephanie, that's great we both made our way to writing later in life. Life experience probably made us better writers from the get-go. I'm glad we found each other in the writing universe!

Nicki, the book is chock full of good writerly stuff. Right back at you, babe. You put the partner in critique partner!