Writability Turns Two!

Photo credit: Stewart Black on Flickr

Well it’s official, guys: Writability is two years old. The actual two-year date was on the 6th, but I was silly and forgot to check the calendar when working out my posts, so it’s a belated blogoversary celebration.

Nevertheless, it’s somewhat incredible to me to think that I’ve been blogging for two years. I mean, I remember when the blog was a weird tan and red color and had a tiled book background. I remember being terrified when I put up that first post two years ago and I remember thinking well, it’ll be worth it if one person likes it.

I never imagined this. I wasn’t sure that the blog would last a couple months—let alone two full years. I never thought that I’d have wonderful discussions in the comments or that I’d get nice e-mails from people that I will save forever. I never thought I’d meet some wonderful people or that’d I’d learn just as much from writing the posts as I do from discussing the ideas behind them.

And it’s thanks to you. Really.

Whether you’ve read one post or you’ve been here since May 6, 2011—every comment, every page view, e-mail, Facebook like, Twitter follow and tumblr reblog is a vote of support. Every kind word and virtual high-five is a reminder of why I continue to do this. Of why I wrack my brain three times a week for a post to write.

In a way, nothing has changed—I’m still an unagented writer dreaming of publication. I’m still a person who loves to write and read and gets excited about Harry Potter fandom and Marvel movies, and occasionally I’ll write a post that scares me just as much as that first ever post did.

But in a way, everything has changed—I’ve shared an excerpt from my novel here for the first time, I have people regularly sharing my posts with others and I’ve had truly incredible conversations about why writers must read and whether or not cursing is acceptable in YA novels, and I’m proud to say that I have an awesome community right here at Writability.

So thank you. All of you. You have truly made this experience worthwhile and wonderful and I cannot thank you enough.

Guest Posting: Every Reader Matters

Photo credit: George Deputee on Flickr

Hello everyone! Thought I'd publish a quick post to wish you all a very merry Christmas (and a wonderful holiday season to those who don't celebrate) and let you know that I have a guest post up about building an audience on the awesome @surlymuse's blog.

So you should check it out (and follow him on Twitter!), then let me know what you think. About the post, I mean.

Merry Christmas!

Guest Post: How to Make Any Good Blog Great

Photo credit: Rangga Chandra on Flickr

So! I'm really excited because my guest post on ProBlogger is now officially live. Amazing, right? It's pretty amazing.

I wrote about how to make any good blog great, so if you blog, or are thinking about blogging, or just want to see how cool it is to have a blog post up on ProBlogger, you should check it out.

Also, I used this picture of pretty lights to let you know how excited I am.

Have a great weekend!

Taking a Leap of Faith

Photo credit: jhf on Flickr

It’s easy to talk about not being afraid. To encourage others to push their fears aside and chase their dreams with the passion of a thousand suns. That part is simple. I’ve even done it myself.

Reading about it is easy, too. Nodding along and thinking yes, they’re right, I need to do that is secret and safe. No one will know if you actually go for it, and so no one will ever know if you fail.

Easy.

But doing. Actually going out there and taking a chance, actually leading by example and ignoring the resistance and the fear—that’s another matter entirely. It’s hard and it’s scary. Hell, it’s downright terrifying.

I know, because I’ve been there—scratch that, I’m there right now. But it wouldn’t be fair for me to tell you guys to chase your dreams and shove fear aside if I didn’t do it myself.

So I’m doing it. I’m taking a leap of faith. I’m going to be brave and take a risk and do something I’ve been putting off for months.

I’m going to design book covers. For you.

Starting today, I’m taking on commission work. If you’d like to see what I can do you can check out my deviantart page or the pretty new Cover Design page up top.

So there you are, guys. I’m taking a chance, a leap of faith, and I hope it’ll encourage you to do the same. Because I’m done letting fear dictate what I can and can’t do. And you should be, too.

And for that, I think we all deserve some confetti.

Photo credit: ADoseofShipBoy on Flickr

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What’s stopping you?