Turn Negatives Into Positives

I saw the poster above on facebook the other day. It seemed a bit negative and my regular readers will know that I'm a person who always aims for the positives in life and in my writing life, too. Then, I started thinking about how the three points above could be turned into positives. So, let's look at each one.

1.  Complain about everything. Most writers feel this way occasionally. We get grumpy after too many rejections and what makes you feel better than to complain to others about not just writing but everything. You might be having trouble with an editor or receive some poor reviews, any of these would give you reason to complain.The problem here is that you end up turning others away. It's really not fun to listen to someone grumble. 

TRY:  Help yourself out of this funk by asking yourself what you can do to turn things around. If you get rejection after rejection, it's time to figure out what you're doing that editors don't like. It takes a lot of objective thinking to do this. Be objective, also, when having editor troubles or reviews that make you want to pull your hair out. Easy to do this? No. Worthwhile? Yes.

2.  Blame others for your problems. This is such an easy out. Sometimes it really is other people who cause your problems, but quite often we end up being our own worst enemy. Nobody wants to accept the blame for their own problems. That's no fun at all. 

TRY:  Look in the mirror and ask yourself who is to blame for your problems? Give the most honest answer possible. When the problems are multiple, it's hard to admit that not everyone you meet gives you grief. Accept the blame for at least some of what has happened and then start thinking about what you can do to make it better.

3. Never be grateful.  Negative people probably are not grateful for much in their writing life. Even when a success comes through, they put a negative spin on it. Or say it isn't enough or should have happened long before. 

TRY:  I attempt to be grateful for as much as I can whenever I can. When I'm down about something, I try to consider what someone else might be battling. No matter what my problem is, there is always someone dealing with far worse things. Thanksgiving is celebrated once a year but we should all practise being thankful for the many blessings in our lives and our writing lives.

The poster asks you to type Yes if you agree. You needn't do that for me but if any of you have ways to turn the negatives in your writing life to positives, please share them with us in the comment section. Let's help one another through those tough times.