motivational post to self
May. 7th, 2011 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321Often I don't write. Why is this? Note to self: Laziness.
(And not: I must compose the opus fabulosum in my head. Or: so little time, so little energy. Or: why does nobody love me and feedback me? Or: why is everyone else's fic so much better than mine? Or: shouldn't I be writing that awesome novel instead? Or: Arrrggghhh.)
Humbling and shiny examples (in the order I discovered them):
1. Philip Roth in this interview which isn't online. But what it did was it described his study and called it a place where work happens. No fancy overheads. Just a room for a man with a work ethic. And his list of publications is three arms long.
2. Simon Haynes. This is an Australian programmer, also author of the Hal Spacejock series (and don't ask me to reconstruct the steps that took me from my virgin click to this man's page: I have No Idea. No, hang on: he's a nanowrimo author!!). On the page 'How to market your book online', Haynes offers this sage advice about blogging:
The world wide web works best as a linked collection of information, with huge visitor numbers for the sites with the most information. If you want people to visit you need to provide them with something of interest to read, and I don't mean cover shots and sample chapters from your books. Write about writing, declare a goal ("I will have a short story accepted by the end of this year") and blog about your hits and misses. Worried you won't have anything to say? You're supposed to be a writer.
Tattoo that on my forehead: Worried you won't have anything to say? You're supposed to be a writer.
I don't know why. For some reason, this resonated. Also this guy? Keeps writing those Spacejock books. And short stories.
3.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
naominovik. Who despite a baby and bedbugs, still finds time to finish a novel, run a fanart contest, update her website, write short stories, do a graphic novel with someone else, post to LJ, run all sorts of other activities wot we all love, and generally be an awesome person.
Motivational note to self: Just put in the hard graft. That's all.
(And not: I must compose the opus fabulosum in my head. Or: so little time, so little energy. Or: why does nobody love me and feedback me? Or: why is everyone else's fic so much better than mine? Or: shouldn't I be writing that awesome novel instead? Or: Arrrggghhh.)
Humbling and shiny examples (in the order I discovered them):
1. Philip Roth in this interview which isn't online. But what it did was it described his study and called it a place where work happens. No fancy overheads. Just a room for a man with a work ethic. And his list of publications is three arms long.
2. Simon Haynes. This is an Australian programmer, also author of the Hal Spacejock series (and don't ask me to reconstruct the steps that took me from my virgin click to this man's page: I have No Idea. No, hang on: he's a nanowrimo author!!). On the page 'How to market your book online', Haynes offers this sage advice about blogging:
The world wide web works best as a linked collection of information, with huge visitor numbers for the sites with the most information. If you want people to visit you need to provide them with something of interest to read, and I don't mean cover shots and sample chapters from your books. Write about writing, declare a goal ("I will have a short story accepted by the end of this year") and blog about your hits and misses. Worried you won't have anything to say? You're supposed to be a writer.
Tattoo that on my forehead: Worried you won't have anything to say? You're supposed to be a writer.
I don't know why. For some reason, this resonated. Also this guy? Keeps writing those Spacejock books. And short stories.
3.
naominovik. Who despite a baby and bedbugs, still finds time to finish a novel, run a fanart contest, update her website, write short stories, do a graphic novel with someone else, post to LJ, run all sorts of other activities wot we all love, and generally be an awesome person.Motivational note to self: Just put in the hard graft. That's all.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-06 11:21 pm (UTC)I think you enjoy the creative process, and that's a good thing! Writing to make money these days is a bad bet, like professional gamblers. Naomi and that guy are both energetic and lucky: most people are not. IMNSHO, better to write for love than luck.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-07 11:24 am (UTC)What I love about actually writing = when the flow comes and the words appear on the screen without you consciously thinking about them. When you grin at your own sentences.
What I love about having written = feedback, community.
Writing when it goes well is more fun than having written. And getting it to go well is to do with not making it a chore but simply something you do every day.
For values of 'you' meaning 'one', obviously :)
Was at beach yesterday but maybe moot next Fri?