We had our RWA chapter meeting today, and I have to say it was wonderful. One of our members gave an excellent talk on how to over come self defeating behaviours and attitudes. Now, I've been known on occasion to have some negative self talk and start to wonder what the hell I'm doing try to get myself published. Thankfully, I have a very supportive husband who keeps me going on those days.
Writing is not an easy career to break into. It's hard, really hard. Anyone who has ever written or tried to write will attest to this. Though if you listen to some people anyone can write a book. Especially a romance novel. Silly people.
So why do it? Why go through all the heartache and headaches trying to get published? Personally, it's because I have stories that I want to tell. Some of these have been bouncing around my head for a long time. Others pop out of nowhere. Every writer writes for different reasons. The key is to have the courage to ignore the negative self talk, ignore the doubt, and try to look on the positive side of rejection.
The most important thing I took away from the talk was to stop comparing myself to other authors and writers. I work different from others. I have different commitments, different abilities, and different stresses. The key is learning how to deal with them. Learn my limitations and then learn how to work around them.
I also need to learn patient! I'm a terribly impatient person and I need to learn to deal with waiting in a much more productive manner.
Thanks to Anne for a wonderful talk today!
5 comments:
Excellent post, Christine! Very inspiring!!
Yes - I've had stories/plots/characters bouncing around my head for years as well -- now it's a matter of finding time to sit and write!
We write because we have to, right?
Oh - and in response to your email -- yes, I have a few articles to forward and will do so tomorrow.
Yep, I'm an impatient person to. That's why I find longer stories harder to write and that's my challenge.
I am full of self-defeating attitudes in a variety of areas but I'm determined to turn it around this year.
It was a great session! Anne always puts on a good one. And I liked the fact that when she asked us to list reasons why we didn't want to write I couldn't come up with a single one. That was pretty telling!
It really was a great session. It sparked a three hour talk between me and my husband afterwards.
Anne's talk really hit home with me on several things. The big one being that I don't procrastonate, I choose not to do something. When I don't get out of bed at 6am to write because my daughter is sleeping with me, I don't need to feel guilty about not getting up. I'd much rather cuddle anyway. :)
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