I hate writing. I love having written. -Authors too numerous to mention
Let's talk about self-talk for a moment. What are we telling ourselves when
we bemoan the difficulties of creating characters, plotting stories, writing,
selling, writing again, selling again, autographing, writing some more, selling…?
What messages are we embedding in our subconscious? That this path we've chosen
is one of uplift and joy? Or are we focused on how daunting a task we've set
for ourselves, the agony of bringing a character to life, the arduous task of
writing a whole book, the impossibility of selling that book once we finally
complete it?
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted
land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit. -Helen Keller
How often do we successfully accomplish something we repeatedly tell ourselves
we can't do? Think about it. What are the chances of learning to ride a bike
if, after the first tumble, we tell ourselves it'll never work, lean the bike
against the garage and walk away? Pretty slim. What are the chances of writing
an engrossing story if we tell ourselves our characters are flat, the setting
is dull, the plot is boring. Pretty slim.
Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to,
when all they need is one reason why they can. -Mary Frances Berry
Let's set these musing in the popular romance milieu of a ranch: The first
thing you do when you fall off (or get thrown off) a hors is get back on (and
yes, I've fallen off a horse several times in my youth and I really did get
right back on). It's not easy. No one said it was. And, if it were easy, everyone
would be writing books. But they aren't. We are. We have the vision, the drive,
the desire to create from nothing. To take the kernel of an idea and nurture
it until it blooms into a book. Sometimes in spite of ourselves and all the
negative self talk. Now let's work on some positive self-talk. Throw out the
"I can't"s. Ignore the "it won't work"s. Repeat after me, "I can, I will, I
do." Believe in the possible, the improbable. Oh, heck. Go ahead. Believe in
the impossible. Let magic happen.
I think I can, I think I can. -The Little Engine That Could
Copy Write 200 Rosemary Heim
