Defeatist attitudes serve absolutely no purpose.
They don’t. In fact, they hinder progress in a very real and tangible way. I’m around a few people who lean in that direction consistently and it’s quite draining.
I have, in fact, found myself wallowing in the sticky mire a time or two.
But I’m more of the type to tread for awhile then cross my arms and make a change. Okay, yeah, sometimes, it takes more time than it should. <g> I can be stubborn. (My family is yelling “understatement” right now…)
But I have little patience and eventually come to a point where I’ll step in and make something happen.
We are the keepers of our own reality.
That patience thing once created problems when it came to writing novels. I’d want to get them done right away and grow frustrated when I didn’t. Now, I’ve turned that somewhat annoying personality trait around and made it work for me instead of against me.
I face every morning with the knowledge that what I write that very day will get me closer to my goal. And finishing the books feels better than any high out there. <g>
Your Brain On Done at the Snark Store. Says, Completion Addiction, Riding high on that finished manuscript. 🙂
The last few weeks have been a little exhausting. Lots of private battles going on in the family, we all suffered the loss of a much loved one, I’m adjusting to a new job and then, there’s that always hectic return of kids’ activities. There are times when I soooo long for a quiet day with a book.
But lately, I get itchy when I read. I always want to set the book aside and work on my own worlds. So, you could say I’m really longing for a few unbroken, long writing days. (The ultimate writer’s longing, right? <g>)
Several things recently resparked my drive into first gear.
The first? My CP, Rachel Vincent. She’s been reading my book and getting very enthusiastic about it. I once worried that our writing styles would create difficulties, but it’s turning out that our very differences tend to help the other writer–offer an important new perspective.
And nothing beats waking to an excited phone message where someone is raving about your work.
Thanks, Rach. You made my weekend. 😉
The other incentive? The bookstore.
All it takes for most writers is a trip to Barnes and Noble. Come on, admit it.
There is such a wonderful, fantastic world of opportunity in that place.
I took the kids yesterday. My daughter has embraced books like I never thought she would. We had to pick up the new hardback by Stephenie Meyer called New Moon.
These are big, freaking books and my daughter will go through them in two days then ask for more. There was another she picked out, but the name is escaping me at the moment. But these books look really good. I want to read them!
My son wanted to check out the kid’s fantasy section as well and my eyes were buggin’!
Both the YA and the kids’ areas were packed with all kinds of new and exciting covers. The return of the fantasy genre for younger readers couldn’t be more welcome as far as I’m concerned. I know it never left entirely, but there’s a new energy to that genre.
You can almost see it shimmering across the spines.
I watched my son pull of one dragon or sword book after another off the shelf, his eyes wide, his mouth stretched into a grin of anticipation.
And there were other, actual kids and teenagers in the store picking out books to purchase. The YA books were covering several tables throughout the store. My daughter ran her hands over the covers and I had to smile. I do the same thing.
And she and her friends talk books more than they do movies now.
How wonderful is this????
So, while there, I turned out all my friends’ books, chatted up a few of them to browsers, did a happy dance when I found Rachel’s books still by the front register.
But the best thing?
I felt that rush while standing in front of those shelves of books. That profound flood of ideas and excitement that made me want to run home and work harder on getting my own books there.
I see all the wonderful ideas other writer’s have come up with and I find them pouring into my brain as well.
Anyone who thinks they can never come up with anything clever on their own needs to just stand in the middle of a bookstore. All of those writers did it. Every story in that place came from one clever idea. From one individual mind.
I have so many stories to tell. So many characters wandering around my brain… or in Beri’s case, knocking on the loud, bony areas of my skull. With both fists. She has some pretty nasty creatures to track down and has even less patience than I do. <g>
So, when you feel that creativity-sucking defeatist monster creeping into your thoughts, the one that says all the good ideas have been taken, or that plot has been done too many times… or no one wants to read another book about vampires, elves, cowboys, babies… remember that your story is different. It’s unique because it’s yours and then tell yourself
