In this video, I share some of my recent author/writing reflections about persistence and practice and... manicures!
***Highlight*** Keep at it! Whatever it is--nails, writing, art, cooking, sports, etc. Stick with it and keep practicing and learning and in time you'll look back and see how far you've come! 😊✨
***Question*** What was something you recently tried for the first time and would give yourself an "A" for effort? 😊💕
PS: Wowww I just realized there’s a typo and I spelled “effort” wrong LOL! Whoopsies! 🤪🤣 although I kinda like the look of it with 2 R’s 🙃😉 looks more symmetrical that way haha 😜
TRANSCRIPT:
Take a look at the 1st time I ever did dip manicure (Jan 6th) vs. my 6th time doing a DIY dip mani (March 19th)...
So I have no idea how I went from laying in bed and feeling super emotional/all over the place (hello full moon!) to looking at pictures of my past diy manis but as I laughed at my 1st valiant attempt of a dip mani, a thought struck me...
If I continue to write more, will my writing skills improve just as much as my dip mani skills have improved as I continue to persistently practice (and bumble a little) this dip mani life?.
Ok it was kind of a random thought but not wholly out of the blue as I have been doing a lot of reflecting about Calypso’s Heart and Rhyker’s Key (and even Deacon’s Star plus what I’ve written of book 4 so far).
I just started listening to the Rhyker’s Key audiobook chapters (like proof reading/listening) and as I hear the words I wrote and the story I shared, I find myself cringing and saying/thinking things like:.
“Oh my god did I write that?”.
“Why did I word it that way?”.
“Hmm, maybe I should have edited that out?”.
This same thing happened when I listened to Calypso’s Heart too and I imagine this may be a part of the lifelong author journey I’ve embarked on.
For whatever reason, it kind of reminds me of how professional sports players (or even how my sister, dad, and I growing up with high school basketball lol! Shout out to my dad who literally attended and video taped every single game!). Anyway it kind of reminded me how professional sports players watch the recording of their game to see what plays they executed well or what moves or skills they could improve on or what needs more practice.
When I listen to the audiobook, it’s this sort of “after the game” recap and reflections where I can identify things I liked and things I’d like to improve upon.
And as I laid in bed (lay... lie? I swear that verb is like my arch nemesis lol). Whatever. So as I was laying in my bed looking at my A for effort 1st dip mani, the parallels of my author journey presented themselves like a total light bulb moment.
Back in January—three months ago?—I remember watching a couple video tutorials on how to do dip nails and then I was like, “I want ombré red and black and then ombré white and black.” (The gold sparkles was an “in the moment” inspirational decision lol).
And then after having this desire for ombré nails, I went out on my balcony and... did it.
Yup. They look pretty dang terrible 🤣 but the thing that struck me as I reflected back on it was how even though I was completely brand new to “dipping” and super rusty with manicures in general (hello quarantine and having naked nails the whole time lol), I had a vision in mind and then I just... did it. I bought the dip powders and tools and did it.
Again, the results are... well, now that I’m looking back, I can laugh but like I said I’d give myself an A for effort. And even though they really weren’t all that grand, I showed off my mani to my boyfriend and then my sisters who all were supportive and yet we acknowledged it wasn’t my best work lol (that’s a topic for another day—having a support system that simultaneously lifts you up while being honest and truthful).
Okay, so what the heck does this have to do with writing?.
Well, I realized how similar this process was for me when I first embarked on the author journey.
When I first started writing, I literally just woke up one day in January back in 2019 and started writing the characters and stories that just popped into my head unexpectedly.
Sure, at that time I’d recently rekindled my love of reading and had read a fair amount of paranormal romance books, but I didn’t know what I was doing! But just like with the ombré nails, I had a vision and I just dove head first into the author life and started writing.
I literally had never written a novel or story in my life. The only writing I had done was essays for school assignments and that’d been years and years ago (and wasn’t even for a writing class or anything).
So I didn’t know a damn thing about writing novels—literally I had no idea what I was doing. If someone had asked me about plots, or pacing, or character development, or Point Of View, word count, editing, formatting, publishing, book cover designs... literally all the things, I would’ve scratched my head and been very confused at the foreign terms and concepts and expectations and “rules.”
All I knew was that I did my very best to write the vision I saw in my head onto paper.
So, just like the very first dip manicure I did, Calypso’s Heart may not be my best work (same goes with Rhyker’s Key, Deacon’s Star, and yes even the current book I’m writing) but I’m hoping that my writing skills will only get better each and every time I let the words flow onto the page... just like the improvements and differences I see from my first ever dip mani to my most recent. (And you can see why it’s no mystery why I’m a little traumatized to attempt ombré again lol).
Okay, so I wanted to close this with a huge heartfelt thank you to you. For not only choosing to take a chance on calypsos heart (and rhykers key) and diving into the species world with me but also for being on this author journey with me. For being there for calypsos heart (my first dip mani if you will) and for hopefully being with me as I continue to learn and grow and write more stories! Thank you thank you thank you!
M.C. Solaris
❤️Author of massively epic love stories
🧜♀️Creator of emotionally satisfying fantasy escapes
✨Healing thru storytelling
✍️ Channeler of Orion’s Order
https://linktr.ee/mcsolarisauthor