Monday, June 7, 2010

Warding off those evil vibes

As writers, we are bombarded with reasons why our work won't/can't make it. Our heads become filled with so many "musts" and "shouldn'ts" that we second-guess ourselves at every turn. It isn't pretty.

Sometimes I just have to sit myself down (well, usually I'm already sitting down) and ask myself: "Do you WANT to write this, or not?" If yes, just do it. If not, don't. Write something else. Or don't write at all. Go find something else to do.

It's sort of a "tough love" approach I guess.

So, fellow writers, what do you do to ward off the evil vibes and banish the clouds of pessimism? Let me know!

Meanwhile, I'll be reading a bit of writing advice from George Orwell:
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/

4 comments:

  1. Being a mother, I have learned to ignore whining from my children so I just ignore whining from myself. Really, what's the point of giving in to the moaning and crying when honestly there's nothing else I'd rather be doing?

    Given the choice, I'd rather write than any other job - well, maybe if someone offered me a job as a cupcake tester... ;-)

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  2. I like that analogy, Michelle! It's like our internal parent needs to tell our inner child to stop whining, LOL.

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  3. Well, I kinda of sink for a while, then I say hey, never say never. My latest project involves a serial killer, and lots of what I couldn't do and didn't know were thrown at me by my nearest and dearest.

    So taking up the challenge and feeling that I needed this character to be as authentic as he could be I set out to research documentation that goes into the mind of a serial killer.

    Wow I found I could get in there easily - should I be worried??:D

    Now I could of stayed sunk but hey that wouldn't get my novel written would it ?and I do love writing.... although cupcake testing could be good too as Michelle pointed out...

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  4. Good for you, Helen! Sometimes doing research can be very satisfying!

    (I do hope you don't become a serial killer, though...)

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So, what do you say?