bestselling author of more than thirty novels
We are happy to have Amanda Cabot as our guest today on Thyme for Writers. Amanda is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels including the Texas Dreams trilogy, the Westward Winds series, the Texas Crossroads trilogy, A Stolen Heart, and Christmas Roses. A former director of Information Technology, she has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages. Amanda is delighted to now be a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with her husband in Wyoming.
Thyme with Other Writers
I’ve been a fan of this column ever since Karen began it and continue to be impressed by the variety of advice other writers have provided in their posts. They’ve definitely added spice and seasoning to my writing journey.
I found myself nodding in agreement as I read Ann Gabhart’s “Thyme to Think and Dream” post last fall. Ann challenged us to spend time alone, just thinking, and to let ourselves be bored, since boredom can lead to daydreaming, and daydreaming can trigger the sparks we need for a new story. While I agree with Ann, today I want to talk about the other side of the coin, namely our need for time with other writers.
Writing is, almost by definition, a solitary pursuit, and many writers either are or become introverts, simply because they spend so much time with only their characters for company. Don’t misunderstand me. Characters can be wonderfully entertaining, but they have their limits. They are, after all, imaginary.
As writers, we’re communicators. I suspect that need is part of our DNA, which is why we spend so much time on email loops, reading various agents’ blog posts, and checking in with other writers. All of that is good, and it serves a valuable purpose. But it’s not a substitute for time with real, live writers. We need to emerge from our writing caves and spend time, not only with friends and family, but also with other writers. That’s why I recommend that all writers join a writers’ group.
Whether you call it networking or simple camaraderie, the sharing of ideas that occurs in a writers’ group is truly priceless. Only other authors understand the problems you’re encountering. Only other authors truly understand the joy of a first sale or the euphoria of receiving a letter from a reader telling you she stayed up all night to finish your book. Only other authors can help you find a way to salvage a manuscript when you’ve received what feels like the hundredth rejection on a story you thought would sell the first time out.
But, you might be saying, I can get all that online. Not so. Virtual hugs and smiles aren’t the same as real flesh and blood ones, and even Facetime conversations aren’t the same as being together. In order to grow, in order to thrive, we need to be in the company of other writers.
It may take a while to find one with the right chemistry for you, but once you’ve found a group where you feel comfortable, you’ll wonder how you ever existed without it. Share thyme with other authors. It’ll renew your enthusiasm for writing and provide the seasoning you need to turn a good manuscript into a great one.
by Amanda Cabot
Cimarron Creek Trilogy
Check out Amanda’s second in the Cimarron Creek trilogy, A Borrowed Dream scheduled for release March 20.
There is no such thing as an impossible dream … .
Catherine Whitfield is sure that she will never again be able to trust anyone in the medical profession after the local doctor’s treatments killed her mother. Despite her loneliness and her broken heart, she carries bravely on as Cimarron Creek’s dutiful schoolteacher, resigned to a life where dreams rarely come true.
Austin Goddard is a newcomer to Cimarron Creek. Posing as a rancher, he fled to Texas to protect his daughter from a dangerous criminal. He’s managed to keep his past as a surgeon a secret. But when Catherine Whitfield captures his heart, he wonders how long he will be able to keep up the charade.
With a deft hand, Amanda Cabot teases out the strands of love, deception, and redemption in this charming tale of dreams deferred and hopes becoming reality.
(C) 2018 Amanda Cabot
Buying Links
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Christian Book Distributors
You may connect with Amanda at:
www.amandacabot.com
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.j.cabot
https://twitter.com/AmandaJoyCabot/
http://amandajoycabot.blogspot.com/
Hi, Amanda. Wish I was close enough so that we could go out and have lunch with “thyme” to talk about all the ups and downs of writing. Enjoyed your post and of course, you are absolutely right – as always. We need both of those kinds of “thymes.” The alone times and the times when we gather with those we love and all our writing friends. That has to be the thing that I have noticed that is the most different from when I was writing for the general market and to now being in the Christian market. Then I never got to know other writers. Here in the Christian writing world, other authors are ready to reach out and embrace a new writer and cheer her or him on.
Sending you that cyber hug until someday our paths actually cross at one of the writer groups.
Ann — We must, must, must meet somewhere other than in cyberspace.
I have to say “Amen” to Amanda’s wise words. I love my writer’s group, but for the past few months have been prevented from attending, and it leaves a big gap in both my personal and private life. A face-to-face writer’s group is essential to your best-possible creation of your work. I can’t wait to return. Thanks, Amanda.
There’s something incredibly encouraging and energizing about being part of a group of like-minded writers who trust each other enough to share their work. On the other hand, the wrong group can be devastating, so the key is to find the RIGHT one.
Thank you Amanda for this great reminder. Not only do you add your insights and encouragements to a writing group, you sponsor and lead one; a very successful one. I’m sure that is in part, because you apply the insights you’ve shared today.
Brad — I’ve definitely learned lessons over the years, including the fact that groups change and not necessarily in positive ways. When that happens, the best thing — at least for me — is to search for a different group.
Karen — Thanks so much for hosting me today. And, Marilyn, I’m glad you share my belief in the value of writers’ meetings.
Amanda,it was my pleasure. Thank you for sharing!
Amanda, this is so true. Sharing the good and the sad, hugs, help and chat is the primary reason I go to writer’s meetings. And the reason I stopped going to some I’d loved before. Choose those people who support you, nourish what you need. Right now I’m in the best writer’s group, only one, and you all know who you are 🙂
Hugs
Leslie Ann w/a L.A. Sartor
Amen Leslie!