It’s the ninth day of NaNoWriMo2015 and by now you may be seated at your desk staring at your pages, feeling ecstatic! Or, alternately, you might be hiding beneath your desk in the depths of despair. It’s possible you even feel a bit of both.
One of the keys to enjoying a long and productive writing life is to find that balance-point between both ends of the the teeter totter–ends occupied by “brilliant” and “blecchhh”. If you don’t, you will remain at the mercy of those two, leaving you exposed to manic highs and depressive lows. Not so fun.
Chances are, unless you were born tucked into the leaves of a perfect tulip and raised by fairies, you are like the rest of us mortal writers: our first draft is a mix of good work and less than good work and some just plain shitty work. Fine, that’s why we revise (re-see) and revise and polish. Eventually out story will shine because it comes from the heart and we’ve worked our ideas and owned our work.
This might be a good time to (re)read Rudyard Kipling’s poem and take the stanzas to heart:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
I won’t go on and spoil it. Take 30 seconds to search and read it for yourself. Let it sink in–and then have a sip of coffee or herb tea or champagne or diet soda or organic juice freshly squeezed and toast to those “two imposters just the same;”
And be damn proud of yourself for writing your heart out, taking the leap and the risk, and going for the gold ring–that in itself is a priceless gift to yourself!
Happy writing~SL
Wise advise… and highly timely. Thank you!
The Kipling comment aligns with my meditation group: it doesn't matter how you're feeling, just keep doing the work!