If you're interested in participating in the Insecure Writers Support Group, we post the first Wednesday of every month. You can go HERE to join the list. Thank you, Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this whole thing!
I'm writing this on Tuesday morning (in preparation for tomorrow). Until last night, I had no idea what I would write about for this installment of Insecure Writers. Even I've got a bit tired of listening to me saying that the process is endless. I get sick of my own work. When I do go back and read for the purpose of editing, there's always *so much* to edit. It's discouraging.
For the record, all of those things are still true.
Another truth is that when you're doing something hard, it takes practice to get it right. The people who succeed are the ones who have endurance. The ones who are relentless.
I got a glaring reminder of that on Monday night watching Dancing With The Stars. It's interesting (to me) to see how people hold up when they're completely outside their comfort zone. Some stars are younger, have more talent (right from "go") and make it all seem effortless. This season, Bindi Irwin (yep, Steve Irwin's daughter) has done all of that. Every week I say something resembling this to my mom: "Her dancing is incredible, but I don't know how she radiates that positivity. She is effervescent." And she does/is.
My mistake was in thinking that it came easy for her. I found the clip of her presentation from Monday night on YouTube. I hope you watch it. There is a lesson in here for us as writers and as people.
Did you see those feet? 4 toenails left, which she is superglueing on, so it's all good!
Are you working that hard on your craft? I know I'm not. I get discouraged, and I walk away from my computer. You know, because I can. There aren't cameras watching my progress. But, maybe I should treat my writing like there are.
How well do you do when you get 9s when you deserve 10s on your work? Do you smile and say, "That's great. I'll just work harder!" or do you go sulk in the corner and say they don't know what they're talking about? Your characters are rounded, your plot flawless... all in all, possibly the best thing ever written!
As Derek said before the dance, "She's relentless. She never stops until she gets it."
So, what about you? Are you relentless? Even when it hurts, do you carry on? When you find yourself way outside your comfort zone do you hammer through it?
