Heya all! Welcome to another blog chain round! Today’s topic was chosen by the lovely Cole. She asks:
“In this season of giving, what one piece of advice can you gift aspiring authors?”
It’s so funny that this is the topic (not funny haha, but funny coincidental) because I was just talking to a friend of mine about motivation and how it’s important to keep writing, and all the usual pep talk stuff. I also realized how much easier it is to give others pep talks and advice than to listen to the spiels myself. If a friend, acquaintance, or even stranger asks me about how to get published or complains about not finding time to write or says s/he has been down because of lack of productivity, I’m right there to lift them up. “Just focus,” I’ll say. To my writer friends: “You can do it,” “you’re too talented to stop writing,” “you’ve come this far; don’t quit,” and the list goes on. Each time I mean every word. I’m very lucky to be surrounded by uber talented writer friends who put their hearts and souls into their work, who try so hard, for who success did not happen overnight but who are well on their way to much fanfare and kudos. They’re inspiring and awesome and persistent, and I would never want any of them to ever stop writing or feel down because of what someone may say. They’re too good.
When it comes to me, though, it’s hard to give myself the same pep talk. It kind of reminds me of that SNL skit with Stuart Smalley where he’d look in the mirror for daily affirmations (“gosh darn it people like you”). It’s not that I think I CAN’T do it or don’t have the skill or the drive. It’s just that sometimes (kind of often lately), I just keep psyching myself out. The “what if” thoughts creep into my head. You know the ones, “what if no one wants this book?”, “what if they don’t like it like I do?”. Once these viruses invade your brain, it’s hard to push them out.
I’m grateful for friends who will give me the same pep talk. The friend I spoke to today, gave me a deadline to finish my WIP. I need those external motivations. I mean, the only way we can be certain to never sell another book is to never finish it, right? I don’t want that.
So, my gifts to writers, are these. We celebrate Chanukah so I’m gifting 8 things. 🙂
1. The ability to never lose faith in oneself and one’s abilities.
2. The time and space to write uninterrupted without the aid of caffeine. (But, I’m not going to be greedy so even just the time and space to write uninterrupted, period, is a good gift).
3. Never-ending motivation to write, write, write
4. Never-ending persistence
5. An endless well of ideas
6. The power of knowing how to fix a bad plot, set of characters, etc. without having to revise numerous times
7. The fearlessness that allows you to cut scene, after scene, after scene (yes, even the one with the sparkly rainbow you adore) if it’s not working in the story
8. And, the most important one of all: the gift of never ever giving up.
Happy holidays!! May 2013 bring you the best writing gifts yet!
To check out the well-wishes of the others in the blog chain, start with Kate, and work your way down!