As writers, we all experience
moments of angst. We become paralyzed with self-doubts. Is our latest work in
progress so crappy we should hit the delete
button? Go back to that job at the post office?
Writing is not for the faint
of heart. It’s hard work and can be a cruel business. If you’re a published
author, perhaps there are moments when you wonder if you’re capable of writing
another book. If you’re a new writer trying to break into print, you may be
sick to death of rejections that damn with faint praise. “Your book is
promising, but I’m going to pass. Good luck, yada, yada, yada.”
Moments like these may cause
the creative juices to dry up and blow away. When it happens to me, I visit my
old friends, books about writing by writers: writers whose words of wisdom
whack me upside the head and say, “Get a grip, girl! Stop wallowing in
self-induced misery and get to work. Here are some of my favorites.
Waiting for your muse to
inspire you? Here’s what Stephen King
in his book, On Writing, has to say
about his muse.
“There is a muse, but he’s not going to come
fluttering down to your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over
your typewriter or computer station. He lives in the ground. He’s a basement
guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to
furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt work
while the muse sits and smokes cigars and pretends to ignore you.”
Do you believe in the concept
of writers’ block? Humor writer, Dave
Barry does not.
“People simply give up and
don’t want to put forth the effort to work through the barriers. No good
writing is easy. It all has to do with overcoming the obstacles we find in the
way of our creativity.”
Mystery writer, Sue Grafton, learned how to handle
rejection from her father. She said the most important piece of advice he ever
gave her was this:
“Bend with the wind. When disappointments come
along, as surely they will, don’t stiffen with bitterness. Be graceful. Submit.
Think of yourself as a sapling, yielding to circumstance without cracking or
breaking. Bending with the wind allows you to right yourself again when
adversity has passed.”
Natalie Goldberg: “Have compassion for yourself when you write. There is no failure –
just a big field to wander in.”
Nora Profit:
“The fear of rejection is worse than rejection itself.”
Strunk and White, Elements of Style: “Omit needless words.”
Anne Perry:
“Put yourself on the page and all that you think and feel about life, but do it
with discipline; do it with skill.”
I’ll close with my favorite
quote from prolific novelist Elizabeth
George. Here’s her advice to aspiring writers in her wonderful book, Write Away.
“You will
be published if you possess three qualities—talent, passion and discipline. You
will probably be published if you
possess two of the three qualities in either combination—either talent and
discipline, or passion and discipline. You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion but
still have discipline. But if all you posses is talent or passion, if all you
possess is talent and passion, you
will not be published. The likelihood is you will never be published. And if by
some miracle you are published, it will probably never happen again.”
Do you have a favorite
writing quote? If so, I’d love to add to my collection. Feel free to comment.