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Mental health trumps who is right about events

There's an old saying: History is written by the victors.

The viewpoint of the history books becomes tainted by the viewpoints of those who wrote them—often those among the victorious. And because the viewpoints are tainted, we often find that the other side of whatever situation is ignored and their experiences lost. We see this time and time again. But we can also see this in our own lives.

Our memories of events become tainted by our emotional responses to those events. And when certain events have lasting consequences, shaping our viewpoints forever, the truth of the events (and our memories) get lost among the emotional responses. Whether it's by way of omission of fact, or by way of having a skewed perspective, when we strip away all the details, we are left with only one truth that we can properly cling to: That the event changed us.

In today's post, I want to explore this idea that every story has two sides to it, but how at the same time, the details of the story are irrelevant. It's the lasting emotional impact that matters. This is especially the case when it comes to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues.

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Guilty

Should you hire an editor who isn’t published?

Editors have their insecurities just as much as writers do. One common insecurity among editors is how to handle the situation where people won't hire us (or trust our knowledge) simply because we aren't published ourselves.

Editing can be very expensive, so writers want to ensure that their money is not being wasted. They want assurances that the editor being hired is able to do the job and do it well.

However, just because a person has published a book doesn't mean that they would be a good editor. And just because they haven't published doesn't mean that they would be a lousy editor. All it means is that they've published… or haven't published.

Yet, I have seen this rotten advice given to newer writers time and time again on social media feeds.

Let me say it right now: Anyone who swears by this rotten advice is missing out on the services of some extremely talented editors who have years (and, in some cases, decades) of experience behind them.

In today's post, I want to take a deep dive into why this rotten advice is rotten, and explain why you can't focus entirely on an editor's personal publication history when seeking their services.

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Letter to Self: Your number one goal is to write!

A few years ago, I came across this exercise that was about self-reflection for writers, specifically targeting what we thought of ourselves as a writer. We were to write a letter to ourselves, being honest about what we thought about our writing skills. This self-examination was to include any strengths and weaknesses that we might have seen.

Through the exercise, we were supposed to identify what we thought were “weak points” within our writing, so we could start learning and improve… and grow.

I’m a learner at heart. I am always trying to learn that next thing, constantly expanding my skill set. So, taking the time to develop a plan for targeted learning was appealing. So, I wrote a letter to myself and stashed it away in the archives of my computer.

Recently, in going back through my blog notes and other files, I encountered the letter that I wrote to myself back in 2020.

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Woman watching the sunset

Shifting Tactics: Going ALL IN to the Self-Publishing Road

It wasn't an easy decision. And I've been sitting on the fence for years. I've been watching what is happening within the industry, including on the traditional path, and there were things that made me nervous.

Initially, I had my heart set on certain things, but as time moved on (and my priorities changed), I realized that I was really holding on to certain ideals out of fear. But there were a few things that were just breaking my heart and setting my career plans back further and further, and impacting on my editorial career, too. I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to make a decision to commit properly in one direction or another.

So, I finally made the decision to toss in the towel for the traditional path and go All In for the self-publication road.

As a professional writing coach and developmental editor, I am still highly supportive of those wishing to pursue the traditional publication path. And there are some writers that I have encouraged to take that chance, knowing that "now" is the time for their story in the market. But the decision for publication path needs to be a personal one. And it needs to be a decision that is carefully considered given the truths about all publication options. It needs to be a well-informed decision.

If you are willing to stick around, I'll break it down and hopefully explain why I've made the decision for myself to head down self-publication roads.

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Using stock images doesn’t mean your covers are AI-generated

I'm not going to argue that the introduction of AI-generated material has changed how we view things. From copyright to the quality of images and writing, systems like ChatGPT and Midjourney have been a game-changer. I'm not going to even talk about the ethics that revolve around using such systems. No, that is a discussion for another day.

But the technology, or more appropriately the lack of understanding of the technology, has led to some ludicrous statements.

How would you react if someone tried to tell you that because your covers used images found in a stock photography website catalog that your covers were AI-generated? That because the fonts used on your covers were in a catalog on the internet that your covers were AI-generated? Oh, and because the graphic designer used Adobe Photoshop to create the cover makes that cover AI-generated?

Well, if you were me during that conversation, you would have had a field day.

Let me set the stage.

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