Nerves and Nerve.

Apparently, someone recently found my blog by Googling "single unmarried childless Christian."

Welcome, friend. You've...come to the right place.

So a couple months back my dad forwarded me this article about a young writer named Amanda Hocking who's sold nearly a million copies of her novels, largely through e-publishing. Like any decent writer of our generation, she has a blog, which I spend time reading through when I'm procrastinating on writing. She says some interesting things about indie publishing, about traditional publishing, and about writing in general. But here's what impresses me most about her--

She's got straight up nerve.

This is part of writing that I just can't comprehend anymore. The ability to let go of a piece, to say, "this is ready to share with someone else," to summon the guts to pursue publishing--and success. Amanda pursued traditional publishing but finally decided to take control of her career by e-publishing. And now she's a full time writer.

I am timid when it comes to sharing with others. I believe I'm a decent writer, but I know that nothing I've written is in the best possible shape it can be yet. I haven't even shared anything with the Hockey Player yet, though he persistently asks to read something I've written.

I'm not saying e-publishing is the way to be a career writer. I believe that anyone who's pursuing a career in the arts can find success a myriad of ways. Or, that they may never find financial success at all. But, as someone who's retreated to "work on her craft" for the past several years, I find the drive required to declare your work ready for others inspiring. Whenever I reach that point, however I pursue publication and success, I hope I have the sheer moxie needed to seize the opportunities when they come along.

Also, Amanda Hocking links this website that analyzes your writing and compares it to famous authors. Here's what I found out--

Novel: Edgar Allan Poe (um. I will definitely take THAT)
Blog: Douglas Adams and HP Lovecraft (are you freaking kidding me?! That would be the highlight of my life)
Anthology Fiction: James Joyce (no way. He's like a serious writer, and...these pieces are not)
The Exit Strategy: David Foster Wallace (I don't know who that is, but I also don't think the website can really handle scripts, 'cause, you know, it was designed to compare you to novelists)

PS. Amanda Hocking's made 2 MILLION dollars from sales. In the very best scenario, who doesn't want to be a twenty-something author with 2 mil in the bank? That is all.