Release Your Inner Writer
How many times have you heard someone say they’ve always wanted to write a book, or that they plan to write a novel one day? It’s likely to have been more than a few times, and it could well be something you’ve said to yourself or your friends too. The big question, of course, is why haven’t you or any of these folks sat down and written their books? The most common cause is fear, plain and simple. Whether you can admit it to yourself or not, you know that sending out your precious novel that you have sweated blood over for the past few years will leave you open to the possibility of rejection, and that can be hard to face. As long as your dream remains a dream, you can cling on to the belief that you have the ability to write something worth reading, but if you risk it and get rejected, your dream is over forever.
No, it isn’t
Having read the above, you’ll now be either agreeing that the idea of rejection is what is holding you back, or justifying your lack of progress because it’s down to not having had the time, other responsibilities, lack of opportunities, or whatever excuse your mind can come up with. The truth is if you want to write, write! Don’t be held back because of the fear of rejection, whether you are aware that this is what it is or whether you hide it behind a screen of plausible reasoning. Read the life story of any famous author from any genre, and they will have tales about papering their walls with rejection slips. Having an editor to whom you’ve submitted your work tell you it’s not right for their publication is not something to get downhearted about. Rather, you should see it as an opportunity to hone your writing skills, to practice your art and become more knowledgeable about what editors are looking for.
Be brave
Imagine you are laying on your death bed (hopefully as a centenarian with all your wits about you), and you look back over your life. What is the worst thing you can imagine not having done? The thing that makes you wish that you could go back in time and achieve what you never got around to doing? Don’t let it be writing your novel. You have absolute power to put everything you have into your writing, and it is something anyone in any circumstances is capable of doing. Stephen King wrote every night, somehow finding the time despite having a young family and working very long, hard days at an industrial laundry. Jon Morrow, a shining light of blogging, is paralyzed from the neck down and must dictate everything he writes, but has become very successful and well-respected. You’ve probably got your own share of problems that you feel are holding you back, but you have the same chance as anyone else if you can find the determination to see it through.
Be clever
Getting started is often the hardest part. You have an idea that’s so exciting you can hardly wait to get it down on paper, and yet when you do try to write, your mind goes blank, you can’t get started, or what you manage to get out seems a sad pastiche of the story you have in your mind. The single best piece of advice for getting started is just to do it. Write anything, keep going, don’t read it, just keep bashing away at the keyboard. Somewhere in amongst the rubbish and stream of consciousness, the true story will start to emerge, and you’ll be on your way. That’s just one tip amongst a million that are out there on writing websites, in self-help books, and many different writing courses. Take advantage of any resources you can find. You’ll probably discover that there is a lot of overlap between the advice given if it is written by people who genuinely know what they’re talking about. Take an online course, or enroll in an evening class or local writers group. Do whatever you need to that will get you started on your writing.
Your whole life is an opportunity
Everything you experience in your life is fuel for your writing fire. Your memories and emotions, hard times and good times all gather in the library of your mind, ready to be accessed when you need an idea or want to convey the feelings engendered by specific situations. Use every encounter, disappointment, regret, all the things you learn and all the characters you meet as inspiration for your writing. Not only will you discover you have an incredible wealth of knowledge about all sorts of interesting topics, but you will also be putting the unpleasant things from your life to good use. Being able to take the bad things and use them to create something new and positive can be a powerful form of catharsis, and help you let go of negative influences. Say for example you suffer severe injuries because of a car wreck that wasn’t your fault. You could suffer the pain, endure the loss of earnings and get down about the experience. Or you could engage the services of a personal injury firm such as Julie Johnson Law, get some compensation for the accident and use it to pay for rehabilitation, a vacation – or maybe a top of the range new laptop. When you open up your new device, you will be able to access a collection of emotions and experiences that will enable you to write with authority on anything related to your accident.
Remember, you have control, and you are the one making the choices in your life. If you take a look at some of the self-published novels available on, for example, Amazon, there will be some that are excellent, some that are readable, and some that are truly awful. The authors of these books all felt sufficiently motivated to write their book and get it published. What have they got that you haven’t? Certainly not talent or ability; more likely just self-belief and determination, because they know that’s the only way to release your inner writer.
Having read the above, you’ll now be either agreeing that the idea of rejection is what is holding you back, or justifying your lack of progress because it’s down to not having had the time, other responsibilities, lack of opportunities, or whatever excuse your mind can come up with. The truth is if you want to write, write! Don’t be held back because of the fear of rejection, whether you are aware that this is what it is or whether you hide it behind a screen of plausible reasoning. Read the life story of any famous author from any genre, and they will have tales about papering their walls with rejection slips. Having an editor to whom you’ve submitted your work tell you it’s not right for their publication is not something to get downhearted about. Rather, you should see it as an opportunity to hone your writing skills, to practice your art and become more knowledgeable about what editors are looking for.
Be brave
Imagine you are laying on your death bed (hopefully as a centenarian with all your wits about you), and you look back over your life. What is the worst thing you can imagine not having done? The thing that makes you wish that you could go back in time and achieve what you never got around to doing? Don’t let it be writing your novel. You have absolute power to put everything you have into your writing, and it is something anyone in any circumstances is capable of doing. Stephen King wrote every night, somehow finding the time despite having a young family and working very long, hard days at an industrial laundry. Jon Morrow, a shining light of blogging, is paralyzed from the neck down and must dictate everything he writes, but has become very successful and well-respected. You’ve probably got your own share of problems that you feel are holding you back, but you have the same chance as anyone else if you can find the determination to see it through.
Be clever
Getting started is often the hardest part. You have an idea that’s so exciting you can hardly wait to get it down on paper, and yet when you do try to write, your mind goes blank, you can’t get started, or what you manage to get out seems a sad pastiche of the story you have in your mind. The single best piece of advice for getting started is just to do it. Write anything, keep going, don’t read it, just keep bashing away at the keyboard. Somewhere in amongst the rubbish and stream of consciousness, the true story will start to emerge, and you’ll be on your way. That’s just one tip amongst a million that are out there on writing websites, in self-help books, and many different writing courses. Take advantage of any resources you can find. You’ll probably discover that there is a lot of overlap between the advice given if it is written by people who genuinely know what they’re talking about. Take an online course, or enroll in an evening class or local writers group. Do whatever you need to that will get you started on your writing.
Your whole life is an opportunity
Everything you experience in your life is fuel for your writing fire. Your memories and emotions, hard times and good times all gather in the library of your mind, ready to be accessed when you need an idea or want to convey the feelings engendered by specific situations. Use every encounter, disappointment, regret, all the things you learn and all the characters you meet as inspiration for your writing. Not only will you discover you have an incredible wealth of knowledge about all sorts of interesting topics, but you will also be putting the unpleasant things from your life to good use. Being able to take the bad things and use them to create something new and positive can be a powerful form of catharsis, and help you let go of negative influences. Say for example you suffer severe injuries because of a car wreck that wasn’t your fault. You could suffer the pain, endure the loss of earnings and get down about the experience. Or you could engage the services of a personal injury firm such as Julie Johnson Law, get some compensation for the accident and use it to pay for rehabilitation, a vacation – or maybe a top of the range new laptop. When you open up your new device, you will be able to access a collection of emotions and experiences that will enable you to write with authority on anything related to your accident.
Remember, you have control, and you are the one making the choices in your life. If you take a look at some of the self-published novels available on, for example, Amazon, there will be some that are excellent, some that are readable, and some that are truly awful. The authors of these books all felt sufficiently motivated to write their book and get it published. What have they got that you haven’t? Certainly not talent or ability; more likely just self-belief and determination, because they know that’s the only way to release your inner writer.
