Friday, June 10, 2011

Committed


I have goals and I've made a commitment to achieve them. I now feel as if I wanted to be commuted from my original commitment because it feels too much like a sentence. Writing 1,000 words a day is not that hard to accomplish, if you're driven enough. There are days that I am and others that I want to toss my laptop because writers block has me in it's fist and it won't let me go. 


I wrote a chapter that I feel is not worth a shit. I will revisit it in draft two and I will somehow weave magic into it to make it one of my best. (I can always hope can't I)? You would be surprised how what you think is shit actually turns out to better than you first thought. Never judge a bad chapter by the first draft.


Think about what sleep you want to lose. Would you rather lose it first thing in the morning or lose it at night? For one glorious six days I didn't have to choose, I could do it whenever I wanted. Now I'm back on nightshift, and it's proving challenging.


My goal is to pound out as many quality 60,000 word books that I can this year because, (I love my night job that much). If you want to be successful you need to be driven enough, and the past year I have been a complete sloth. I let people and self doubt get in the way, never a good thing, but it's reality for many writers.


Everyone is a critic they say and I believe it's true. I'm very careful who I allow to read my stories, and I will take all critiques with a grain of salt they were meant to be. If you sift you fingers through the salt you may find something useful but usually you only find salt.


I have an editor and friend Barbara that I funnel my ideas through and she finds a way to tell me what she thinks without making me feel put upon. She gives me examples and that helps me tremendously. It's not always what you say but how you say it. Do you want to be someone that inspires others to do more than they thought possible, or do you have some kind of self serving purpose to discourage every other writer. That way they can feel better about yourself. I think there is great writer in all of us if we don't let negativity overwhelm us. Don't let it change who you are.


I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

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