3 Kinds of Writers and a Power Outage

I'm late in writing my post today as our power went out around 8:30 this morning. I thought I could still use my laptop since it was fully charged, but when I turned it on, I discovered no internet! I tried to call a friend on my landline, and the phone had a message about no power in the holder. No tv. No radio.No airconditioner. My cellphone needed charging but couldn't do that either. So, I went for a walk that needs no power other than my own. I came home and sewed on a button that I'd needed to do for days. No power needed for that. We had power at 10:30. 

While I was on my walk, a neighbor passed and said, "We didn't need one more bad thing, did we?" 

The photo poster today made me think about my early morning situation and also about writing. Looking at it line by line:  The pessimist complains about the wind.  Grumbling about the power outage would have brought no results. The optimist hopes for it to change. Yes, I did hope for it to change but hope alone was not going to get it done. The realist adjusts the sail. I think I did adjust by doing things that required no power. Not only did I have something to do, but both were also good things. I needed the walk, and my mini sewing project let me cross that need off my list. 

How does this quote apply to our writing world?

The pessimist complains about the wind. We all know writers who spend far too much time whining or complaining about all phases of their writing life. Many place the blame on others rather than looking at themselves for the answer to why so many negatives appear on their writing journey. For these people, it's time to make an attitude change.

The optimist hopes for it to change. I am always happy to see someone who has hopes to be a better writer, to be able to get more of his/her work published. That's not such a bad thing. However, that kind of writer who puts all their concerns into hoping that their writing life improves still has to work hard to make it happen. Hope alone does not make it so. 

The realist adjusts the sail. This kind of writer is not going to continue sitting in the boat either complaining or hoping for change. He/she is going to get up and get moving, to make better things happen in his/her writing life. It means work, sometimes very difficult work. In the long run, this writer will be the most satisfied and the most productive.