Sometime this summer I gave into a little of the negativity that constantly haunts me. I might have even despaired a little. Not exactly a black moment in my writing life, but more a dark grey moment.
I recovered with the help of some wonderful friends, but then I noticed a trend. It appears that over the last month, many of the bloggers and people I follow on Twitter and Facebook have been bummed about their writing journey.
While Facebook can a place of pithy sayings and sound bites, political extremes (right now) and advertising gone wild, there are also some amazingly deep, disturbing or beautiful photos to share. The two photos I'm sharing below seriously made me stop and think.
I never thought about it before, but Winston Churchill is right. Whether the dog barking at us is our own inner doubts, or people who don't "get" our writing, or the naysayers who actually want us to fail, the more time we spend trying to respond to them the less time we spend walking down the path of our writer's journey.
And it is a journey. We will never be happy with where we are at any given moment. My personal opinion (and you can all tell me I'm stupid in the comments, if you want - just be nice about it!) is that, as writers, we have ample imagination and we are always thinking forward. What's the next idea, plot point, paragraph, sentence, word.
That wonderfully creative imagination also compels us to never be satisfied with where we are in our writing journey, because we are always looking forward to where we are going next. And then we get frustrated when it doesn't happen the way we imagined it should have. I suppose it could just be me who is like this...but I don't think so.
What does it all mean? Well, for me it means I have to work on being patient. I have to learn to be content with where I am in the present moment. And... I have to keep walking along the pathway of my writing journey and trust where it leads me. My journey is mine, and yours is yours and they are both good and right.
I hope you all have a fabulous week! How is your journey going?
Ah so true! It is easy to get distracted and discouraged, to lose confidence in our ourselves and our ability. Keep walking the path, maybe just round the next corner...
ReplyDeleteWhat great quotes thank you for sharing
ReplyDelete@Suzanne - Seeing what is around the next corner is sometimes all we have to keep going! It's like a grab bag of life!
ReplyDelete@VikLit - Thanks - I'm glad you liked the quotes. :)
Lara, I hope the period you went through wasn't too painful. You're far to sweet and helpful to be subjected to a lot of pain.
ReplyDeleteLove the Winston Churchill quote. Just keep your eyes on the road and forget the boogeymen.
Thanks, David. No, all things considered it wasn't too bad. I just lost my faith in writing for a little bit. It happens to us all. :) By the way, expect an e-mail from me next week!
ReplyDeleteHey, Lara! Thank-you so much for this post. I feel the same way often. We have to stay positive & believe in ourselves & our abilities. Good luck to you & thanks again for the great post!
ReplyDeleteThese are some fabulous quotes.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes it's easy to forget that writing fiction requires a complex skill set that takes a long time to learn, and from what I understand, the learning never really stops. While these qualities make writing a rewarding journey, it can open us up to self-doubt on occasion. The best thing is to just keep moving forward with the knowledge that you don't get to amazing new destinations if you stop traveling, and keep connecting with other people making the same journey so we can give each other a little boost when we need it :)
Right you are, Lara! I call these people obstructionists and/or necromancers who just drain your positive energy. Once you identify them, it's really easy to eliminate them from your path.
ReplyDeleteYou may not completely remove them from your life, but you can change your path so that they will not follow so often. :D
Know what they fear, know what they avoid most...usually it's positive, yet risky challenges they don't appreciate, so always challenge yourself and watch them shrivel up and swaddle away from your sight.
:)
Oh, and keep your chin up and never let them see, even if they do affect you. It's hard not to let things get to you at times.
I can dig it all. Sometimes I think, "What the heck..." is wrong with me, my blog, my FB...?
ReplyDeleteI don't like to visit negative blogs. They take be further into the abyss.
I prefer motivational blogs - like Elizabeth H. Cottrell (Riverwood Writer), Cyndi Biggs (The Sophia Project), Vaughn Roycroft, Susannah Friis (from Down Under), and a few others. They remind me that I am not alone, and they also lift me up and get me back on a positive track.
Great post, and very relatable. Not only is writing a journey, it often feels like a roller coaster ride, right? All these ups and downs. But even on a roller coaster you're moving forward I suppose. Usually in a big circle, but still forward. Ha!
ReplyDeleteEven someone who writes as slow as I do, as long as I put one baby step in front of the other I figure I'm at least moving in the right direction.
Great advice! I need to work on patience too. It's SO HARD to wait. Contentment is priceless, don't you think?
ReplyDelete@Tammy - Thanks for coming by! Yes, staying positive certainly makes the journey more fun, for sure!
ReplyDelete@Mike - I know, huh! It's so easy to forget that writing well is a laborious task to learn. No one expects to pick up a guitar and be a proficient musician in a year or two. Maybe it's because we already know how to write, so we think writing well is an easy leap to make.
@Diane - I like the idea of challenging ourselves to keep negativity away. I also like the term obstructionist. Quite clever!
@Karen - I love Vaughn's blog! Yours, too. I agree that it is important to find blogs (and by extension, people) who encourage positivity. It's too easy to be negative, otherwise.
@LG - Thanks! You know, roller coaster ride going forward in a circle is how I feel right now! :) Yeah - one step at a time, one page, one word. It's all progress.
@Emily - I totally agree on patience. I'm not a patient person. I used to think I was but then I realized the truth. It's a lot easier for me to be content in the rest of my life than in my writing life. Learning contentment has been a lifesaver for me, though. Cuts down on a lot of stress and anxiety. :)
Very inspiring quotes and great reminders. Some times the hardest thing to do is to just keep going. Glad to have discovered you through GUTGAA!
ReplyDelete@Creepy Query Girl - Nice to meet you and thanks for the follow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful written post AND such good advice to keep in mind. Very, very glad I stopped by to read this. Love the quotes too. Happy Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteI love that Churchill quote. We have to focus on our goals and keep on keepin' on! My journey is currently going great right now. I'll have to remember that quote for the bad days.
ReplyDeleteHey Lara,
ReplyDeleteStop reading my deepest, darkest recesses of my mind :)
How do you do it... I'm wearing Aluminum cone caps from now on :)~
Anyhow, great post and boy is this directed at me this week :)
However, positive thinking, less stone throwing and more Churchill quotes (such as "Never give in. Never. Never. Never give in.") help me on a constant basis... as do reading great posts like this :)
Like you, I saw those photos on fb, and stopped to consider their wisdom. Thank you, once again, for the reminder that thunderstorm tonight doesn't preclude a sunny day. It's all good. :)
ReplyDelete@Kimberly - I'm glad there was something in the post you enjoyed. Often I write a post and wonder if it even made sense. This was one of those posts!
ReplyDelete@Shallee - I'm so happy you have contentment! I hope to remember those quotes, too, when I start that cranky spiral that seems to happen every so often!
@Mark - Didn't I tell you I'm psychic? You can run but you can't hide...anywhere! :) If this did help you this week, all I can say is "I love serendipity!"
@D.D. - One of my many mantras - It's all good! :)
Hi Lara,
ReplyDeleteJust dropping buy as always. This article is fantastic and it is a great faith builder for me.
I am a fan of Winston Churchill and so this quote just made my day.
Ciao,
Patricia
Redesign looks great, Lara!
ReplyDeleteFirst, LOVE the blog look! Gosh I hope this is new or I'm a horrible, horrible, friend/blogger and haven't been around here enough!
ReplyDeleteAnd its so true. We can't stop. No matter how much we want to.
Must. Keep. Moving.
Have a great weekend my dear!
@Pat - Hi! Nice to "see" you again! I'm finding I'm turning into a Winston Churchill quoter. He does have some great quotes. :)
ReplyDelete@Nina - Thanks so much. I'm going to force myself to leave it for quite a while, no matter how much of a wandering eye I get.
@Kelley - Yes! It's only about two weeks old, so you're safe! That moving on no matter how we feel about it is a key component to success, I think. :)