Note to self
When you don't think it's any good, when you think you have no talent, when you think no one is listening, when the words won't come or only the wrong ones do, when you want to do anything else, when you start to lose your nerve, when it all seems like a waste of time, when you don't know what to say, when what you have to say is the wrong thing, when fear is closing in on you, when you think you'll never write anything good again, when all you want to do is give up
Keep going, keep going, keep going
Keep going, keep going, keep going
posted by writingblind at 6:51 PM
16 Comments:
True. True. True.
What can I say, your little one's inspired me.
That's so nice. She had some trouble today herself working out a plot.
You've inspired me today, though. In ways I can't really articulate.
Thanks for the reminder...
This is what I have to tell myself every day, or else I go crazy.
keep the faith. perseverence is as important as talent; it's not the lack of ideas or talent that kills us, but the crushing fear of failure. the gremlins are false prophets, but scary nonetheless.
another thing to remember when you are stuck in the "nothing is any good" vortex: no matter what you write, nobody ever has to see it. that's gotten me through many a bad stretch.
Bookfraud, that's good advice. I think I'm going to print that out and hang it on my wall. It seems like lately I can't get out of my own head long enough to write anything. It's hard to get started when you've already conceded defeat.
Thanks for stopping in, by the way. I've been reading your blog for awhile and it's been really helpful.
I can't get out of my own head long enough to write anything.
Nike, dude. Just do it! I know it's easier said than done, but if you start by writing about how you're feeling about this, something will click.
The nice thing about blogging is that it helps you get nice and loose as a writer. Sure it's not great literature, but it is great practice.
Flood, it seems like all I do is just write about how I'm not writing, does that make any sense? Or I get started on something and then I start to second-guess it every step of the way. I don't think it should be this hard. I don't think it's this hard for other people. This is what makes me think that I'm not really a writer and I should just give up.
Michele, if you haven't noticed I'm a pretty terrible blogger. I have no idea what I'm doing, which should be painfully clear.
Really, I just need to suck it up and either get on with it or give up. I'm driving myself crazy and probably all of you as well. Like I said, it shouldn't be this hard.
it shouldn't be this hard. sometimes, it is, you just gotta plow through it. famous (well-repeated) story: the great e.l. doctorow was having so many problems writing that one day he just started to describe the wallpaper in his house. next thing you know, he's written ragtime. true story.
i'm glad you have found some help in my incoherent, self-serving ramblings.
I didn't know that but somehow I don't think that's going to happen for me. I feel like if it doesn't happen now, it's never going to happen, which is just stupid, I know. It's just so easy to doubt yourself sometimes that I get shut down before I begin. It's funny, until I started writing I never realized how completely neurotic I was.
And by the way, you shouldn't call it inherent rambling. You should call it good writing. That's what Toni Morrison does. ;)
You're obviously a very talented writer with gorgeous phrasings and insightful, vivid prose. So I'm not really sure why you're getting down on yourself.
Moncrief, you precious, precious man. Thank you.
Sometimes I would rather sit down and clean the grout from my bathtub tiles than sit and write. But we go on. Persevere. There’s no substitute for perseverance.
A big thank you to everyone who commented. Your advice and opinions mean a tremendous amount to me.
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