Two percent of the people think; three percent of the people think they think; and ninety-five percent of the people would rather die than think.
— George Bernard Shaw
Author: J.J. Probasco
I'm a Word Wrassler. Sometimes I win...sometimes they do. It tends to keep the universe in balance.
Thought For The Week
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat.
— Alex Levine
Refuse the Writer’s Blues…and Re-energize Your Muse
If you’re a writer who doesn’t occasionally sink into depressing doubt about your ability to produce anything above the level of drivel, then you’ve only been writing for about an hour or your ego is mountain-high and wide as the sky. I’ve dipped into that well myself, and re-visit from time to time on a fairly random basis, but I also know we all do it. And we can bounce back.
I found a really good article today by Clayton Noblit on Written Word Media about handling writer’s doubt. I’ll post a link to that in a bit, but first I have some ponderings of my own that I’ve been meaning to mention and this article dovetails nicely.
For every down, there’s an up…if you can just make yourself look for it and find it. So for every time I think about poor sales, or not enough reviews, or maybe I didn’t write something people really like, I hear that my barber may have only gotten to chapter twelve in my novel but his wife loved it so much she’s already read it three times. Or that someone from the city arts council read the whole thing in one day and is coming up with ideas on what actress should be cast for which character in the movie that’s sure to come. Or that it made someone laugh out loud, and kept someone on the edge of their seat, and made someone feel all warm inside.
I may be a self-published author with one novel under my belt, but I’ve been asked to give a presentation at the arts council and sit on a panel for a writing workshop. I had an article on the front page of my hometown newspaper. My minister wrote a great review, as did several really awesome people, and they’re all five-star (well…so far). And my granddaughter wrote a book report on it for school…and even got a 95!
How can you beat all that? Well, maybe Oprah giving everyone in her audience a copy of my book, but that can wait. The point is that there’s always something good to balance the bad, and there is always another thing to think about that can keep you going.
And you’re not alone. We all have misgivings. But we can all gird our loins and get back in the swim, headfirst with both feet. So mix a multitude of metaphors with wild abandon and get back to work!
Here’s Clayton with his excellent article…
Beat the Author Blues: How to Manage Writer’s Doubt
by
Think running a business is hard? Imagine if the business was based around your imagination being shared with others. This is what an author deals with on a daily basis. Thankfully, there are upsides to bring an author. Sharing your creativity can be the most rewarding thing in your life. It’s a chance few will take, but those who do can see great rewards.
Here are a few common issues that authors face, and suggestions on how to overcome them, or put them in perspective.
— Feeling devastated by a bad review
— I’m not a real author
— My writing isn’t good enough
— The task seems too big
— I don’t know enough about a subject to write about it
Thought For The Week
What I love about Daylight Saving Time is that it’s always five o’clock somewhere an hour earlier now.
Thought For The Week
Ability can take you places, but character still determines who you are when you get there.
— Ed Stetzer
Thought For The Week
My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far, I’ve finished two bags of M&Ms and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.
— Dave Barry
An Amazing List of Writing and Publishing Tips
“I may not learn much or learn fast, but I learn purty good. And one of the things I learned good is that it’s a whole lot easier learnin’ from somebody else’s advice than sittin’ and starin’ at the wall and figurin’ it all out for yourself.”
— J.J. Probasco
There. If J.J. says it, it must be true!
So here’s the thing: no matter what you do, the best way to go about it is find out what the experts do, and do that. What other writers, publishers, and agents think and how they do what they do ends up being a pretty reasonable guide for going about the business of being a writer. And it just so happens that a bunch of those folks got together at the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference and spouted several tons worth of wisdom. Then the Writer’s Digest folks sat down and sorted through it and came up with a whole handful to put in a list so the rest of us could sit back and learn from it at our leisure.
Being easily distracted by every thought-squirrel that skitters past, it took me a while to stumble across this marvelous list, but better late than never. So if anyone stumbles across my post before theirs, I’m fulfilling my destiny by pointing you toward the actual wisdom. It comes handily at the link below, and here’s just a tiny tidbit to hold you until you get there…
“Everyone’s first pages are awful. Just hold your nose and write. Today’s sh*t is tomorrow’s compost.”
— Hallie Ephron
There. Wasn’t that deep? Now go look at the rest!
“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING.” AND OTHER WRITING ADVICE FROM TONI MORRISON
Found a really good collection of advice from Toni Morrison, by Emily Temple at Literary Hub. Worth a read for any writer.
I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR TRUE LOVE AND YOUR MAMA AND YOUR PAPA AND YOUR FRIENDS.
Write what you want to read.
I wrote the first book because I wanted to read it. I thought that kind of book, with that subject—those most vulnerable, most undescribed, not taken seriously little black girls—had never existed seriously in literature. No one had ever written about them except as props. Since I couldn’t find a book that did that, I thought, “Well, I’ll write it and then I’ll read it.” It was really the reading impulse that got me into the writing thing.
–from a 2014 interview with NEA Arts Magazine
Thought For The Week
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
— Anne Frank
Thought For The Week
Marriage teaches you loyalty, forbearance, self-restraint, meekness, and a great many other things you wouldn’t need if you had stayed single.
In A Tale-Spin 