Light a Fire
So, everyone gets the doldrums (Where did that word come from anyway?) once in a while. Occasionally, I find myself in a writer’s slump. I don’t write for a day. And then it’s two. And then I start to doubt myself and FEAR takes over. What if I’m not a writer? What if I’m a sham? What if I’m really lousy and no one has the guts to tell me, like those poor souls on American Idol who sound horrible, but say that everyone tells them how great they are? What if I’m like that? What if I never have another idea again and I never figure out how to solve the problem: what happens next?!
Then I have to stop myself, take a deep breath, go to my computer, open my WIP and simply WRITE. It comes. It’s fine and I have warded off the doubt fiends. Until next time.
So, I wanted to share some quotes on writing. Be inspired. Light a fire. If not yours, someone elses. (BTW, I just lifted these from some random website–I love the internet.)
Anne Rice
To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.
William Zinsser
Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading.
Epictetus
If you wish to be a writer; write!
John Steinbeck
Writers are a little below the clowns and a little above the trained seals.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If any man wishes to write a clear style, let him first be clear in his thoughts.
Samuel Johnson
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.
Henry David Thoreau
Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience.
Andre Gide
Only those things are beautiful which are inspired by madness and written by reason.
William Shakespeare
If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me.
Robert Frost
All the fun is in how you say a thing.
How do calm your writing fears? Or any fears for that matter?
Well I don’t think I will ever EVER calm my writing fears. I’m constantly afraid something is going to come out tomorrow that is close to something I’ve wrote (and poured my soul into) and despite it being a total coincidence, they’ve published it first so I’m screwed. Furthermore I’m always having the fear that I’ll never get published or that nobody will like my books, blah blah blah.
As for going without writing for a little bit, that’s not horrible. Sometimes I force myself to walk away from editing and writing for a week or something just to chill myself out. It gives me a chance to free my mind. However, during those periods I’m always mentally outlining and planning and brainstorming (especially when I’m driving).