Friday, May 21, 2010

Last one, I swear :D

Our Friday Funnies will be moved to Saturday as we explore the last of my present issues.

Without further ado - Issue #3:

I get a little intimidated - because I like to read during my down time. And when I'm holding a superbly awesome book in my hands, I'm thinking two things, pretty much simultaneously.

"This book is sooo good, I love it!!!"

and

"I will never write something as good as this, why can't I think of stuff like this, holy cow why do I bother!!?"

So, yeah, not so easy to pick up my own pen when I'm constantly comparing myself to other people.

Solution - lol suck it up, quit being a baby and (as my mother used to say when my siblings and I would be checking out what was going on with the peas and other undesirables in everyone else's dish instead of mind our own bee's wax) - Mind Your Own Plate!

And I found a few bits of awesome to go along with Mama's bit o' wisdom:

(this one comes from the same Richard Rhodes quote from yesterday...I just saved this line for today) ;-)

If you're afraid of what other people will think of your efforts, don't show them until you write your way beyond your fear.

I love this one - LOVE IT. Because I do love what I do, I love what I write. And that generally doesn't change until I send it out for it's first crit and it comes back covered in that lovely shade of red and I realize how much work it really needs :) But when I'm only concerned about what is going on in MY head *sigh* it be grand :)

Another bit o' awesome, from Frank Herbert:

The successful writer listens to himself. You get a writer's block by being aware that you're putting it out there.

He makes a great point. If I focus too much on "putting it out there" and not enough on listening to myself, I will never write anything again. I think listening to yourself, at least in the beginning stages, is essential, and something I need to try a little harder to do.

One last bit of awesome, from P.J. O'Rourke:

Write badly. Bad writing is easier.

LOL This one just made me laugh. It goes along with my own mantra that I'm supposed to be chanting every day "Just suck it up and do it." 

Yeah, so there are books out there that are going to be better than mine. So what? There are books out there that will be worse too. I need to listen to myself and if that proves difficult, suck it up and write anyway, knowing it's crap. Crap is fixable. But you can't fix something that doesn't exist - so just get something down.

Anyone else waiting in line at the Intimidation Station? Climb aboard Michelle's crazy train - we're leaving the station in 5 minutes :D




9 comments:

Vicki Rocho said...

You've hit close to home with these posts. Must be a universal thing - that writers all fear not being good enough.

I think it's like being a mom. Every good mom fears she's not doing enough. She worries she's not spending enough time, not feeding them the right things, teaching them the right stuff, loses her temper too quickly...our list of self-abuse is endless.

But the real difference between good moms and bad moms (in my humble opinion, and also the difference between good writers and bad) is that they CARE. The very fact that you don't think you're good enough and you try to do better is precisely WHAT MAKES YOU GOOD ENOUGH.

My opinion.

Thanks for these posts. I feel reassured my obsessing is normal

Matthew MacNish said...

Great quotes. Great advice, great attitude! Have a good one Michelle.

Stina said...

So are your Saturday posts going to be called "Saturday Sillies"? I'll try to watch out for it. I don't usually check the blogs on the weekend. I spend way to much time on them during the weekdays. ;)

So true about what you said. It's frustrating when you see a great book, and know your writing will never be that good. It's the reason it took me forever to read THE HUNGER GAMES. I heard it was amazing, and didn't want to depress myself by reading it. I'm glad I did in the end.

Have a great weekend!

About Me said...

Michelle, love this post. At multi-points in the creative process we feel that nagging at the back of our minds: are we good enough, do we have an exciting story to tell? But we have to push beyond those doubts and work harder.

Have a great weekend!

Elana Johnson said...

Oh, bad writing is so much easier! Great quotes to help me move beyond the fear -- thanks!

Lydia Kang said...

some great points here and I agree wholeheartedly!
Especially about writing beyond your fear. Excellend advice!

Carolyn V. said...

Woo hoo! I'm on the train! =)
And I agree, bad writing is easier. If only people would love bad writing. hee hee. =)

Jemi Fraser said...

Got room for one more? :)

I try to focus only on the very next thing - that way I don't let the future freeze me :)

Zoe C. Courtman said...

Oh my god I'm ALWAYS at the intimidation station. I try to remember something author Elizabeth Gilbert said: "I only promised I'd WRITE. I didn't say I'd write well." That usually frees me up to just get words down - and you know what? They're usually pretty decent words. Keep at it - thanks for sharing this post!