Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Do you have a backup plan?

When the recession hit our family in 2007, I wasn’t prepared for the depth of the fallout. I figured we would be back on course in a few weeks. Never did I expect to find us in the situation we are in eighteen months later.

I like to think of myself as a person who plans. No matter what the circumstances, I always have a backup plan. When my husband lost his job, I attacked all the job boards and called friends to network. He landed a 6 wk job bidding churches in SC. When we returned to Fl, my husband went on a few more interviews and finally found another temporary position.

Our fears increased so we activated his Contractor’s license and started our own company. He passed his Realtor’s license and found an office. I activated my sales license and started studying for my broker’s license. We pulled out all our experience and education and hoped and prayed one of us would make enough to survive this economic downturn.

As writers, we need backup plans too.

Disappointment from multiple rejections can hurt and leave scars.

I received another one yesterday and felt the same old tug to give up—the same tug my husband and I have felt over and over since he lost his job. The thought to sell our home at a loss and move back to our hometown becomes more real. But the drive that moved us to Fl eight years ago still survives.

Just like the drive to write. No matter how angry or hurt or sad I get, I know I can’t give up writing. So I need a backup plan. I always try to find another company to submit my works too. I might wait a week or so, but the plan is forming. I might have to rewrite and makes some major revisions—like Ido our resumes and career goals—but I can’t give up.

The damage from this recession isn’t going to go away overnight.

Neither will our insecurities about writing. Do you have a plan to survive it? Do you have the knowledge that no matter how hard it gets, you can do this? If you don’t, start working on it today!

13 comments:

Jinksy said...

At least in Blogland, there are no qualms about being accepted - people read or don't read - and that's that. Makes life simple!

Yolanda said...

I've honestly not once, submitted a writing.......

But I know that God has filled me with His peace concerning where we are in today's world and that HE IS IN CONTROL. I must be surrendered, submissive, OBEDIENT to what He lays on my heart and that it is confirmed in His word...but....I also truly stand on He gives and He takes. Thy will and Thy way.

I pray that this might encourage you....Lovingly, Yolanda

Kathryn Magendie said...

Ah gawd, yes--the rejection, the Let me Throw All My Stuff in a Fire and Burn it ALL writer angst! But we just get up and brush ourselves off and write and submit again!

What keeps me going is that I love this business even when I hate it -- I love language and words and love when I'm creating....if only I was satisfied with just that, eh? *smiling*

I'm keeping my good thoughts heading you way, Terri

Susan Storm Smith said...

Great analogy Terri. We can plan for any situation, but I am reminded that God said, His ways are not the ways of man. "God let me be in your perfect will today, nudge me where I need to be nudged, and keep me from the places that I don't need to be."

Renee Collins said...

Ah, rejection. I know it well. :) For me, my back up plan is to start writing something else. I guess that's not exactly a backup plan, per say, but it works for me. (For now)

Greg C said...

I do have a backup plan so I don't worry about what will happen. We both have our real estate licenses as well so I guess that is a second backup plan. Then I could always finish some of the things that I have started writing and that would be a third backup. Wow, I have lots of options.

I think that blogging could prove to be a great networking tool.

Cindy R. Wilson said...

I like this post about having a backup plan. Particularly for new writers trying to get published. It can be so easy sometimes to believe that once you write something you feel is great, some agent or publisher out there will jump at the opportunity to look at your work and publish it. But that's almost never the case. And, though it hurts, rejection can often be a great stepping stone on the way to being a better writer. It teaches us to persevere, to be the best we can be, to write better, more often, to edit, edit, edit! And we can trust God that we're not writing for no purpose at all. If He put in it our hearts to tell a story or reach someone, then that dream can never be rejected!

Melissa Amateis said...

I think back up plans are a must, no matter if the economy is in a rut or what's going on in your life. It can all change on the turn of a dime.

My writing is my back up plan - and in this, I mean that when life goes horribly wrong, I retreat to my writing world. It's my own little vacation spot. :-)

Susan Storm Smith said...

Please go to http://olivepressmuse.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-five-addictions.html to see your award

Ginger said...

Hi,
What a great post. I will keep you in my prayers that God will lead, guide and direct to the plan that He ultimately has in store for you. Blessings and peace to you today.

Stonefox said...

Terri, i am so sorry about what you all are facing. I love your spirit and attitude in spite of everything. You are right, we do need backup plans...and persistence! Hang in there, friend.

Great Grandma Lin said...

we probably need more articles like this one on how to survive since most people find themselves in the same situation. there you go...submit it, most submission the more chances of acceptance. I know!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Thankfully, my family doesn't depend on my income for writing to survive, so there's not that pressure. But because of the current economic meltdown, my husband took a month+ job in another state. Balancing my job as both parents to three teens and also being a care giver for my mom t'aint easy, but ya just roll with the punches.

As for writing, we write because we don't have any other choice. Sometimes ya just gotta grit ya teeth and keep going. Prayers and hugs for the journey!