A Little Pep for Your Salt!

Don't you just love the title of this post? I do! Come on...admit it...you're totally smiling right now ;)
Now that I got that little grin on your face...
I wanted to share a little pep talk with y'all. I actually wrote this for a close group of friends when all of us were struggling to get back on the writing train. I was reading it again today and thought--What if someone else really needs to hear this? So I will share this overly peppy (and slightly amended) pep talk with all you awesome writers out there! Time to clean those slates of ours. Wipe away the old, broken promises we made when it comes to our writing.
Come on now!
Clean slates everyone! Clean slates!
*gives one last scribble, crazed laugh, then wipes clean*
There. Ahh...fresh.
Now...How dare you? Oh yes. You! How dare you let those wicked lies fill your head?
I mean those evil haters that whisper failure into your ears. You know the words.
"You started this years ago and you haven't finished."
"You're never going to be published."
"Nobody is reading it. Nobody likes it."
"You're wasting your time."
"You should be doing something else."
"Ugh, you're still chasing that dream?"
"I love you but maybe it's time you..."
"I believe in you but..."
Or worse! The things we say to ourselves are sometimes more horrible! I've heard them..I KNOW.
"I suck."
"I'll never be as good as..."
"I'm never gonna get a deal. I'm never gonna finish. I'm wasting my time."
"I can't get it right."
"Omg! I have to rewrite again? I should just give up."
See what I mean? We're just awful to ourselves. So quit it! What kind of talk is that? Huh? Chin up, shoulders square. (move hips side to side heh heh) Now shake. Shake says I! Just feel that negativity roll right off.
Haha this sounds like a bad workout instructional :D
Now see, it's all gone.
Now listen close: You are master, ruler, captain, etc...of words. You make them come like nobody else. Oh yes. When letters see you settling in to write they just scramble toward you. They practically beg for you to turn them into something fantastic. "Me! Pick me! Use me!"
Oh yes. You hear them? They're calling you now. You are incredibly gifted. Talent can't be bought or taught...and you are TALENTED. Genius is what you are. Brilliant! Must I say it again? Okey dokey...YOU ROCK! Like boulders in a great typhoon. Or maybe like spuds on blue soil.  Yeah...umm.
Oh you rock! Just like the robin in that song.
Now repeat after me: I am the bomb. I am a sexy, naughty little writer who is uber talented. I am going to do this. I will keep writing until I finish--and I will finish--and it will be amazing. I know my story is worth telling. Worth reading. And people will love it! I will let any bad things slip through my ears because they are evil and wretched and not true. I am going to write. I am going to work toward my word count this week knowing I have people in my corner who are rooting me on. And I will...above all...LOVE WHAT I DO.
Now don't you feel special?
I hope so. if not, we're going to have to have a chat, you and I.
Well, I hope this has been sufficiently perky for y'all. Until next time!
Happy Writing!!

Write from the Heart: Just a Reminder...

Just a reminder for all you talented writers out there. Yeah, I'm talking to YOU.

Anything worth doing, is worth doing all the way. Put your all into it. It may be the best thing you've ever written. It may be the worst. But at least you'll have written it with every ounce of your heart. Don't be afraid to try something new or think outside the box. Sometimes you just need to say, "Screw the rules!"

Write with joy. Write with passion. Write with your heart.

And write on.

Bits O'Wisdom: Worth It?

**Hello everyone! We have a guest blogger today who would like to share some words of inspiration with us. Is being a writer worth it? Why do we do it? Here are her thoughts on the matter....**

You’re a writer.


Anyone can call themselves that these days. But what does being a writer really mean?

It means life as you know it will suck big ones for the most part. It means long, sleepless, over-caffeinated nights when the voices in your head refuse to stop their incessant yapping. It means looks of admiration from your friends and loved ones that soon turn into pity and finally annoyance, as you strive for that dream of publication.

It means rejection.

It means wanting to bang your head against the wall when the words won’t come. It means getting a day job so you can feed yourself and your family because your writing sure ain’t doing it. Oh yeah. Didn’t anyone tell you that writing doesn’t always pay? No? Well, I hope you’re not too disappointed.

It means rewrites. Editing. It means swallowing critique and more editing. And then when you do happen to get published, it means doing all the above OVER and OVER again for the rest of your life.

I know. When it’s put that way you have to wonder: Why on earth would anyone put themselves through such torture? Why do I bother doing this to myself?

Because…You. Are. A. Writer!

You don’t know where those stories come from or why the need to get them out is there. You just know it’s there inside you. That lust for the written word. That desire for a good story. You were born to do this. You are going to do this!

So you suck it up. You write every day. Every day. Even when you don’t want to. Even when the words are fighting you and the things you write down don’t make any sense. You know your ideas are good. That they are what readers are looking for. So you press on. You ignore the haters. Ignore the looks, the snide remarks about how you’re wasting your time. What do they know? You just wrote a chapter today. Ha! In their faces!

Rejection happens to you. Great! You’re trying! You’re not just sitting around wondering: What if? you’re doing something. So they didn’t like you. Send it again. Start a new story. Kill off your “darlings.” Write the most wretched chapters you’ve ever seen. Then when the burning sensation is gone from your eyes…edit them. Then edit some more. Who’s going to quit? Not you. No way. You keep going. Keep dreaming. Writing.

Yes! Above all else…You keep writing!

Sounds hard, right? Sounds terrifying too I’ll bet. But so what? You’re tough. You’re a writer after all. Writing is hard work. Hard! But the end result, my fellow authors, is so WORTH IT.

~Rue McKinley