The Corner Lot Authors

New Year, New Me

/ LKWeir

by LK Weir

At least once a year we make a resolution to improve; to fulfill some deep-down desire to be better. Eat healthier, exercise more, learn a language, write that book—all with good intentions. We hit the new year running. We get a gym membership, plan out a week’s worth of healthy eating, sit in front of our laptops and write everyday…until, one day we forget. 

Then days pass, weeks pass, months pass, and suddenly a little thought pops into our mind… did I forget something? 

We all have a longing to be something bigger and better than we currently are. It is part of the human condition. The problem is, when that day comes and we remember what we forgot, it’s devastatingly discouraging. It can make us feel unaccomplished, stuck in a cycle and unable to fulfill our life’s desires. 

It simply feels rotten.

This happened to me in 2020. Early in the year, I published my book and felt like the queen of my life. Once it was out there, I was certain I would promote it with raw intensity. I would write Part II within six months and launch my second novel. Then, at that point, I would finally arrive at my destination.

But life got in the way. 

I started writing Part II. I set up marketing on Amazon. I posted about it for a couple of months. Until, one day, I forgot. A month went by, then six, and now I am sitting at the cusp of 2021 wondering, what happened? I feel the full weight of how much time I wasted. I think to myself, “How will I ever become the person I am meant to be if I can’t even do this one small thing?”

And with this thought, I am deflated. As if I’ve lost the point of it all. Why should I try again if I know I am just going to fail?

This cycle needs to stop. But not in the way you are thinking. 

We all have goals and dreams. We plan how we will accomplish them, and we try our best to achieve them. But our dreams and our goals should not be limited to the one day a year when we tell ourselves it’s time to change. 

“Our dreams and goals roll on, year after year, as we pluck away at the to-do list. We are not bound to a timeline.” – LK Weir

If we don’t finish right away it doesn’t mean we failed. 

So instead, this year, I propose we take stock of all the things we have accomplished. List all the lessons we have learned, compare a snapshot of who we were and who we have become. Finally give ourselves credit for all we have gone through to emerge on the other side. 

I want you to do this. Please follow along, I promise it is worth it.

  • Write five things you have accomplished. (Nothing is too small…did you plant a garden in the spring? Did you spend time giving joy to your loved ones? Did you hike to a place you’ve never been before?)
  • Write five things you love about yourself. (No self-deflating talk here, just good thoughts please! Are you an encourager? Do you love fine dining? Do you put family first?)
  • Write five ways you have changed in the past year. (Did you learn a lesson? Learn a meditation? Watch a seminar? Even if you think you haven’t, you have.)
And then, with the list of all the things that make you unique, special, accomplished, and brave. Take a glass of your finest bubbly, lift it high in the air, and give cheers to yourself. 

Say, “2020 was a New Year, and Now I am a New Me!”

Plan Your Life

/ LKWeir

by LK Weir

I spent today planning my life. I would like to tell you that it had some meta-spiritual purpose relating to the full moon, or the start of a new month, or even a profound new sense of purpose. But that would be a lie. The truth was…I really, really wanted to hang up my new whiteboard. 

Crisp and empty, it was ready to be filled to the brim with all the things I haven’t done yet but intend to do. All those beautiful instructions for me to follow…yes, I am in love with planning. 

I am a schemer, a plotter, a list-maker and a to-do writer. I get a kick out of setting goals, breaking them down into tasks, and sub-tasks. Maybe even sub-sub-tasks, but never sub-sub-sub-tasks… except sometimes. 

Deadlines, time-limits, and calendars—oh my! 

The perfect way to spend a day indoors.

I wasn’t always like this. I used to be the very opposite of a planner; disorganized, chaotic, and quite frequently confused. Most who knew me would say I was the very definition of haphazard. I missed appointments, scrambled for deadlines, struggled in school, and nearly forgot work shifts. I was always late and rarely finished what I started. 

I hated it. I didn’t want to be the person who couldn’t be relied upon, the person who had bad grades and constantly made up excuses.  But most of all, I didn’t want to spend my entire life not making my dreams come true. The problem was, I didn’t know I could be better. 

Then, I tried planning. 

I was given a free organizer and instead of tossing it into my backpack, to let it rot with the orange from two weeks ago, I opened it up and marveled at its blank pages. I started by entering my exam dates. And then the dates of my assignments. And then my shifts at work. And then I started to plan when I would work on my assignments before they were even due. And then…oh my…I was hooked. 

So, why do I plan?

By nature, I am a serial procrastinator. Nothing would ever get done if I didn’t plan for it. 

“For me, not having a plan is like wandering the woods without a map. There is the tiniest chance I will find an oasis with tiny forest people to feed me supper, but it is far more likely I will end up in the dark with a hungry belly.”

– LK WEIR

At first, I found it overwhelming to write down all the things I had to do. But, one-by-one I accomplished things and crossed them off the list. My goals got bigger, my task list longer, and suddenly I had finished writing a novel (PrismCityPress.com), moved countries twice and travelled throughout Europe and India. 

And the only reason I could do all of this?

Because I had planned to do so.   

So, wipe off your whiteboard, dust off your organizer, take a day, and set to planning. Build yourself a map to your future. I promise, it feels pretty damn good to plan your life.

The Negative Review

/ LKWeir

by LK Weir

“There is no glory except

straight through your story.”

UNTAMED BY GLENNON DOYLE

This week marks the first negative review of my debut novel. I had mentally prepared myself for this moment. Of course it had to happen at some point. In fact, it should be a moment of pride that I’d managed to reach a wide enough audience to find a reader who didn’t enjoy the product I created…. painstakingly….with blood and tears. 

After all, it’s just a book.

Another product in the market.

Not everyone will like it.

Just ignore the single bad review and concentrate on all those that are good.

Easy right?

I hadn’t yet set up my Goodreads Author account, so I thought it was time to get that in order. I searched for my book and saw a picture of a person’s face I’d never seen before. A new review! Very exciting. Next to the face was a single star blinking shame at me. 

Before I had even read the review, my heart was through my chest. Beating at a pace that made me want to throw my laptop and run, never looking back.  

I disappointed a reader.

⭐Rating: 1 out of 5.

Not a big deal, I never expected to be loved by all, after all, how many books had I not liked? But I couldn’t stop reading it, over and over, dissecting the words that were written. Honestly, they weren’t that bad. It wasn’t scathing, it wasn’t that I had completely disappointed them. But single star? Maybe it was worse than I thought, I must be reading it wrong. I read it until I second guessed myself and my ability. Slowly slipping down the canyon of negativity, allowing all the worst thoughts to take ownership of my mind and shame me into a spiral.

It’s not personal, they don’t even know you.

It doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer.

This was only your first book, you’ll get better.

Eventually you will write so well that no one will dislike what you write.

Stop kidding yourself, that’s impossible, you could never write that well.

Maybe you should give up now.

What’s the point if you can’t make everyone happy?

Your book isn’t good. You told yourself a horrible lie.

Everyone will see this and know you are a fraud.

Then I took a breath. Put my laptop down and disconnected my thought spiral. I love story telling. Deep down in the pit of who I am, I know that one bad review (or maybe someday many more) cannot stop that love. It is who I am, it is who I have always been, and it is who I will continue to be. 

It’s not about pleasing everyone. It’s about doing something you love for the love of it. 

Writers create magic. We pull from a place we don’t quite understand and weave together people, places, things, and emotions into a tale that didn’t exist before we wrote it. We have the ability to bring entire communities to life, and create fully functioning people with thoughts, feelings, quirks and traits. We create lands where no person has set foot, and situations that would be impossible in the world we actually live. And we want to share that magic.

Not everyone will like it. And so what? What matters is that the magic was created in the first place. 

So, I would like to thank my first negative reviewer. I went through that plethora of emotions to come out the other side remembering why I do this. I emerged with a better understanding of myself and a drive to push myself even further. 

After all, it’s my story.