Lately, I have spent some of my time listening to a few pod casts on the subject of writing. As someone who has never really been a participant in the pod cast phenomenon, this is something of a departure for me. I discovered a plethora of feeds on the subject of writing, and have been listening to several. I have picked up some tips and a few tricks along the way. I spotted a couple items that have improved my process. I also found much needed encouragement. A thing that the self-conscious unsure amateur in me needs from time to time.
It was a largely positive experience until, I wandered into a podcast which was not helpful at all. It was billed as being about the business side of writing and the associated industry. I went in expecting theory, process, and procedure as well as some best practices. I got anything but that. It was an hour long rant on how horrible the business is. It was a sackcloth and ashes session full of sorrow and despair. It was a give up all hope and kill yourself if you ever want to make a dime from your writing sort of session.
I know I should have shut it off. The level of negativity was more than anyone needs. It certainly hit me hard. It made me question whether an outsider, with no hooks into the mainstream publishing industry can make the leap from amateur to professional. It gored all my sacred cows and tread heavily on all my dreams. It made me not want to write another word or at least never hope again to be published.
In the midst of my despair, I had a moment of clarity. I was reminded of a few things. My goal has never been to be the next Stephen King. It has always been about self-expression for the sake of self-expression with the only reward being found in my own mental health. My writing has always been about getting the stuff out of my imagination and onto a page. I seem to do better in life when it is not rolling around unchecked in my cranium.
The dose of reality I got, while painful and discouraging, was a good thing. Reality never hurts anyone ever. It is only in knowing where you are that you can understand the path that led to the current moment and the path forward. Reality as a form of truth can also act as a positive change agent. It can lay out clearly the obstacles that lie ahead. It can also function as a fundamental challenge.
Dreams and sacred cows are a fine thing to have. What is however more important is the work required to realize the dreams and maintain the cows in existence. The work to realize the dream transforms the dream into a goal, reachable and attainable. Any dream that can be crushed by a solid dose of reality is not a dream worth having.
In the process of having that moment, it occurred to me that it was a revealing experience. It occurred to me that I write because not writing isn't something I can do. I was born with the need to tell stories. It is a fundamental part of me. If I take seriously the Bible when it says that the essential nature of me is fearfully and wonderfully made, then I have to admit God put the heart of the writer in me. God forged it in me as I was knit together in my mother's womb. It is who I am. I write, because I do and I am mean to do so. Making money on it has nothing to do with honoring the gift given to me by my creator.
In saying all that, some may conclude me to be an arrogant prideful person. In reality that is far from the truth. I say all of that not as a boast. Rather it is an admission of the fundamental nature of who I am. In doing so, I am honoring the giver of the gift, as well as the gift itself.
For all of the travails that lie ahead, I can only say this. I will not hide my talent in the earth. I will not run in horror from the risks that lie ahead. I will not flee from the path laid out before me. I will accept it all, and act in faith that the path laid before me is put there by my creator. I will give thanks to my creator for the path, and the ability to walk it.
I doing so, regret will have no room to grow. Beyond doing the work I confront on a daily basis, and accepting it in faith, the rest is not my concern. The rest is about outrageous fortune, God, and things I haven't the ability to fundamentally comprehend much less express. It is upon me as a duty to show up everyday and do the work. Everything else is silence to the mortal mind.
It was a largely positive experience until, I wandered into a podcast which was not helpful at all. It was billed as being about the business side of writing and the associated industry. I went in expecting theory, process, and procedure as well as some best practices. I got anything but that. It was an hour long rant on how horrible the business is. It was a sackcloth and ashes session full of sorrow and despair. It was a give up all hope and kill yourself if you ever want to make a dime from your writing sort of session.
I know I should have shut it off. The level of negativity was more than anyone needs. It certainly hit me hard. It made me question whether an outsider, with no hooks into the mainstream publishing industry can make the leap from amateur to professional. It gored all my sacred cows and tread heavily on all my dreams. It made me not want to write another word or at least never hope again to be published.
In the midst of my despair, I had a moment of clarity. I was reminded of a few things. My goal has never been to be the next Stephen King. It has always been about self-expression for the sake of self-expression with the only reward being found in my own mental health. My writing has always been about getting the stuff out of my imagination and onto a page. I seem to do better in life when it is not rolling around unchecked in my cranium.
The dose of reality I got, while painful and discouraging, was a good thing. Reality never hurts anyone ever. It is only in knowing where you are that you can understand the path that led to the current moment and the path forward. Reality as a form of truth can also act as a positive change agent. It can lay out clearly the obstacles that lie ahead. It can also function as a fundamental challenge.
Dreams and sacred cows are a fine thing to have. What is however more important is the work required to realize the dreams and maintain the cows in existence. The work to realize the dream transforms the dream into a goal, reachable and attainable. Any dream that can be crushed by a solid dose of reality is not a dream worth having.
In the process of having that moment, it occurred to me that it was a revealing experience. It occurred to me that I write because not writing isn't something I can do. I was born with the need to tell stories. It is a fundamental part of me. If I take seriously the Bible when it says that the essential nature of me is fearfully and wonderfully made, then I have to admit God put the heart of the writer in me. God forged it in me as I was knit together in my mother's womb. It is who I am. I write, because I do and I am mean to do so. Making money on it has nothing to do with honoring the gift given to me by my creator.
In saying all that, some may conclude me to be an arrogant prideful person. In reality that is far from the truth. I say all of that not as a boast. Rather it is an admission of the fundamental nature of who I am. In doing so, I am honoring the giver of the gift, as well as the gift itself.
For all of the travails that lie ahead, I can only say this. I will not hide my talent in the earth. I will not run in horror from the risks that lie ahead. I will not flee from the path laid out before me. I will accept it all, and act in faith that the path laid before me is put there by my creator. I will give thanks to my creator for the path, and the ability to walk it.
I doing so, regret will have no room to grow. Beyond doing the work I confront on a daily basis, and accepting it in faith, the rest is not my concern. The rest is about outrageous fortune, God, and things I haven't the ability to fundamentally comprehend much less express. It is upon me as a duty to show up everyday and do the work. Everything else is silence to the mortal mind.
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