You're In Charge! Letting Your Creativity Free in Your Writing

Writer's block is a myth. It's true! Or at least I think it's true.

You are the one in charge of your own writing. The biggest constraint on writing should be not having enough time (aka too many other commitments) not staring at a blank page when you could be writing.

As long as you have scheduled time to write (even if you only have five minutes), you should be able to. Putting words onto paper is easy enough. Can you speak? Can you think? Then you can write. Whether you need to edit it four hundred times is another story.

Sometimes it's overwhelming, the sheer scope of being in control of a literary universe can be soul-crushing. What can happen next? What should happen next?

When you read a novel, you aren't usually thinking, "That wouldn't happen next. This would." You know why? Because a novel is what YOU make it to be. You are in charge.

Anything can happen next. It's up to you. Try to avoid the paralyzation of not feeling in control by making SOMETHING happen. Get it down.  Being in control doesn't have to be scary. It doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Don't think about it. Just write.

You had the vision for these characters. You made them exist. Anything that happens next is the right thing. No one else has any say in the matter. Sometimes you will have to adjust things. Sometimes someone else will suggest something that is a better fit. You can always edit. But YOU are the only person who can move past the "not writing" and just start writing.

Start now. Close this website. Close the browser. Open your word processing software and start.

You'll feel more accomplished and happier, thus leading yourself to a more creative place as well.

Of Every 100 Novels, Only 3 Are Finished

You can be one of the three!

It takes effort, desire, persistence and commitment.

If you have a lot of other responsibilities it can require extra patience in allocating time.

But you can do it. How? By continuing to write. Just keep going.

You have an idea. You have the plot. Your characters are growing and turning into real people.

Begin.

You can always edit or change things. You can start with a chapter but decide there was more to tell before that and change it to chapter 2. You can scrap the whole chapter and restart.

No matter what you do, continue writing. You will always make progress. Even if you cut things out, you will have learned what you didn't want, learned more about what your characters would do or say. You will have gained skill through practicing your craft.

A novel is built one sentence at a time. Enjoy writing. Enjoy learning about your characters and envisioning them in their situations.

Try. Start. Go. Begin.

If you just keep pushing, you will  be one of the the three who finish.

So, It's Been a Month. No Acceptance, No Rejection.

It has been over a month actually, since I submitted my book to a lesbian book publisher. I have not heard back from them. I have emailed them (non-rudely, though self-deprecatingly per C).

C says they are probably busy. I just keep thinking that they rejected it after the first paragraph and decided they didn't need to let me know.

I have heard that editors usually don't tell you, usually don't give any feedback about rejections.

I can understand this. After all, they must receive a tonne of requests / submissions. Logically I understand this and can empathize.

Yet, when I am on this end, (waiting and waiting, biting my nails, hoping), I can't help but rant in my mind about data in this day and age. The internet, so helpful, closing the gaps of worldwide information. The internet pushing people far apart at the same time, relegating them to just another byte of information.

I just want to know I guess. The book is not the best book in the world. This I know. Would I have ever expected it to be? Not at all. Sometimes firsts are all about being willing to try in the face of failure.

So I have succeeded. I tried. I let something from inside me out into the world. I allowed myself to hope.

Now I just wish I knew, instead of the gnawing feeling inside me of perpetual sadness, overwhelming negativity threatening to encompass me. I wish the bandaid was ripped off.

I wish I knew what and why. I could fix it. Or maybe it can't be fixed or needs more TLC than it's worth. But at least then I could move forward, make the right changes.

Most people never finish a book they start. I have. (Go me!) But now I wait, sadly.

C says she's always known I'm a good writer. Just those small words bring some peace to me, some calmness and stillness to me.

I had prepared myself for this possibility of rejection, although apparently not well enough. I guess I prepared myself well enough to go through with the writing, to click "send" on the email but not enough for an actual rejection.

But that's all you can hope for sometimes. Enough strength to get through the first step, not the first twenty. I usually think too far ahead, worry so far into the future that I can't even get past the first step.

So take a deep breath Robyn, you're on a long road.

You Are Unique in Your Writing

No one can possibly have the same viewpoint as you do.

They have not experienced what you have, didn't learn what you did as a child. They do not have the same strengths and weaknesses. They have not made the same choices. They have not made the same mistakes nor accomplished the same things. They do not have the same goals or hopes or dreams. They are not irritated or happified by the same things.

They are all different from you (as they are different from each other).

YOU HAVE SOMETHING UNIQUE TO SAY.

All the things that make you who you are lend themselves to a one-of-a-kind viewpoint. Like fingerprints, your ideas are new, even if they are drowned within the Internet sea. You have every right to share your thoughts. Someone will find them insightful or interesting.

Perseverance in Writing

What is the single most important "skill" in writing".




You will be rejected. Undoubtedly again and again.

You must know that you "have what it takes". You must believe in yourself. Everything you write should give you more confidence (even if just the tiniest bit), make your writing more practiced (easier to slip into) and increase your abilities (even if only in looking back years later).

There will be times when you are frustrated, and if you are like me, you'll cry. There will be times you want to give up, or wish you had given up long ago so you could have focused on something that netted you more.

But if you truly feel that it is your "calling" to write, that writing is your means of reaching people, sharing your ideas, or making a difference, then you MUST persevere.

Write. Every day. Whether you start a blog, a diary, a novel, an article. Whether you write letters to your friends, family or penpals. Whatever way you choose to let your thoughts out, make sure to do it regularly.

Do it for yourself first. Do it because you must, because your life would feel like less if you didn't.

Don't expect anything but the smile-evoking happiness that comes from crafting a story, giving advice, or communicating.