It’s Time To Respect Your Work!

Last month, I got a very nice wake up call. It was an email I received from my friend Tamisa, who I hadn’t spoken to in a few months. She told me she just finished reading my book, “At Second Glance”. She said she read it in one weekend and couldn’t pull herself away and only took a few breaks to stop and eat. LOL It’s 400 pages, so that alone was impressive! I wrote that book years ago, but never really pushed it like I should have.

“At Second Glance is a real page turner! I laughed, I cried, and laughed some more as I felt a little connected to some of the characters and their situations. I highly recommend this fantastic novel by multi-talented author Simone Kelly Brown!”

Tamisa Covington, New Jersey

That email she sent along with a nice testimonial made me feel so good; it was an ego boost at first, but I have to admit, I felt guilty. I was mad at myself for not really writing or promoting it like I should have. Writing is really one of my first loves and my favorite form of expression. However, I have to admit, because it’s so much fun and like a hobby to me, I still have to force myself to promote my fiction work. It’s also not bad to have an extra revenue stream from doing things that you love. That is what ‘Owning Your Power’ is all about!

After I read Tamisa’s email, I looked at my book “At Second Glance” again. I started reading some of it , smiling, blushing, laughing and getting into the book as if I didn’t write it! It’s mind-blowing how new things can feel when you haven’t looked at it in a while. I was excited again about my work! I posted a link on my network, Facebook and Twitter about it and then a new order came from an Own Your Power member who lives in Japan about twenty minutes later! A few others ordered it in the next few days. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up in the morning to “You’ve Got Cash” emails from Paypal.

I began to wonder what was the “block” with this book in particular? It’s like deep down I still believed, “Oh, artists don’t really make any money. Who wants to be a starving writer? Not me! I’m a respectable holistic business coach!” I’d tell myself,” You got real work to do, no time to be playing around writing fiction.”
However, as the law of attraction states, what you focus on expands.

What Tamisa’s little email did for me was make me revisit my second fiction novel that I’ve been picking up and putting down for the last few ~shivers~ years! I know if I really work on it, I could knock it out in about three months.

I kept  hearing the faint whisper in my ear of my writing coach, Sophronia Scott telling me, “Respect your work.” Those were the words she uttered to me in a coaching session a few years ago to help me with procrastination with my first fiction book, At Second Glance. Those very words drove me to action to complete it, along with her amazing tips on re-writing your manuscript.

Just like I love to blog on lifestyle and business tips, host podcasts and events; my fiction writing is a part of my soul. It’s a part of me that I shouldn’t push to the side as a silly hobby. It’s my way of sharing my message, voicing my opinions, creating my own little universe of characters that help heal others, make people laugh and teach lessons.

So, enough about me. What have YOU been kicking to the curb? Maybe you think it’s just too much fun and it’s not going to bring in instant income, so why do it?

RESPECT YOUR WORK BY…
1. Really sit and remember to honor your passions, be true to yourself and respect your work. Carve out small chunks of time each week by creating focus days. Have specific days isolated for various tasks.
2. Get a coach to help in this area to increase your productivity. Ask me how, I’d love to help you!
3. Ask a friend to be an accountability partner that is aware of your goals and can help crack that whip on you. Set up weekly calls.
4. Join a network of like-minded people. Surround yourself with positive energy and influences.
5. Stop making excuses and worrying about what people will think or say. ~a-hem~ Yes, it’s one of my issues with my fiction books. Well, there are juicy sex scenes and all. My father almost passed out when he read a scene on my site. I did say I was a respectable holistic business coach, what if it gets out that I write like that? LOL. Oh…so sorry, I digress
6. Spend me time with yourself so that you can remember what your TRUE passions are. You know, in case you forgot or never made time to find one.
If you need a push, I’m here for you, as long as you give me a push back too.
You have a talent to share with the world, and believe me we’re waiting…

Own Your Power,
Simone