Inspiration to Write After a Pandemic Year

 

Our quote today from the author, Jack London, doesn't mince any words. He says that we cannot sit around and wait to be inspired to write. It's up to us to get up, get out and about, get a grip on finding inspiration to write.

How many cutesy articles have you read about waiting for your muse to inspire you to write? That little person who sits on our shoulder and nudges us, beats us up at times, or totally deserts us. Nice to have someone else to blame our problems on, but we can't let the poor muse take all the blame. Yep, it's another one of those 'it's up to you' things.

I've noted myriad writers during the pandemic year we've been experiencing saying that inspiration to write seems to have fled. It's not hard to understand that during times of great stress, our creative side tends to close down. We can certainly say we were all feeling that with the many unknowns of the covid-19 disease at the onset, the changing of directions, the loss of life that pervaded our country.

It's been a year plus, and vaccines are being given to large groups of people. Life is beginning to be a little more normal. Still a way s to go, but there is hope ahead. With the slow return to a more normal kind of life, perhaps our inspiration to write will emerge once again. 

I found myself writing only what was necessary, namely my blog and keeping up with my commitment to my online writing group. It wasn't because I didn't have the time. The senior community where we live was locked down for months at a time. Time was not the problem. 

What can you do to get started writing again, or write more than you have this past year? Find a few suggestions below:

• Start by making a list of short-term goals. Not a great many, just a few
• Look in your files to find drafts that can be completed
• Check calls for submissions to find something to spark your creativity
• Get out of the house--then observe all that is around you for story ideas
• Read a book or articles on writing to get back on track
• Attend a writer's group meeting--I always find inspiration there
• Have coffee with a writing friend and discuss the inspiration angle
• Go through old picture albums to find inspiration to write family stories
• Ditch the negative attitude; look for the positives in life

We've all been through a difficult year. I'm feeling like I need to put it behind me and move on. How about you? The road ahead is all ours, and what we do with it is up to us. I plan to write a great deal more this year, and I hope you will, too.

Writers, Weeds, and Wishes

'Some see a weed, some see a wish.' It's all in how you look at the dandelion. We could equate it to the some see a glass half-empty while others look at it as being half-full. Our perspective on all things is of great importance.

How do you see your writing journey? Do you look at all the potholes and ignore the waving flags that signify the positives in your writing life? Or, is it a mix of both? Maybe that last one is the healthiest. 

Looking only at the potholes will do nothing but drag you down, make you wonder why in the world you ever thought you could be a writer. On the other hand, if you skip over all those problem areas and see nothing but the good parts of your writing life, you could be stunting your growth. I'm doing fine, there is nothing I need to improve on--that's a risky attitude. It's better to aim at checking the good and the bad. That's the way you'll learn and grow as a writer.

When you flip a coin, you know there are two different sides to it just like our writing life. We flip from the good side to the not-so-good one from day to day. The whole coin signifies our writing self. It's up to us to see the good side and the maybe-a-problem side. 

You have a choice as you progress on your writing journey. Will you ignore all the potholes and never get them fixed? Will you be so happy over all the good things that happen that you'll never even notice the potholes? Like so many things in life, we need to reach a happy medium. 

So, what will you see the next time you pass a field of dandelions in their final stage? A weed or a wish? 

Receiving Critiques On Your Writing

Writers are often told to join a critique group or do a one on one critique session with another writer. It will help you, the writing gurus say. It's true that you'll benefit from having other eyes on your work, but there can be a bit of a hitch, too.

It's not an easy task to expose your writing to others who are going to point out all the places you need to improve. They're going to tell you what works and what doesn't, mostly what doesn't. You may end up feeling like they're tearing your beautiful prose to shreds. 

You have to make an attitude adjustment if you want to put your work out for critique. 

1. Remember that it is not YOU these people are criticizing; it's the piece of prose or poetry you offered for critique and they are doing it to help you, not to hurt.
2. Go into it with the idea that you are going to learn from what the critiquers tell you.
3. Be grateful that you find the problem areas before you submit the piece to an editor.

Keep in mind that the critique person is looking at your work with objective eyes. The writer is 100% subjective when reading his/her own work. 

Last week, I sent a story to my critique group. One that I wanted to submit for a new Chicken Soup for the Soul book. I thought it had turned out well. Seems other eyes saw a number of places that could be zipped up, words that weren't necessary and places where better words might have been used. I used many of the suggestions from the 5 critiquers to polish the story, then waited a day before sending it to the publishers of Chicken Soup. I felt very grateful that the women who had critiqued the story had helped me have a better chance of being accepted. A real plus was that they all liked the story and let me know what areas they especially enjoyed. 

When I offer a critique, I always try to give positive feedback along with the suggestion to change this or that. I think it's important for the writer to know the good spots as well as finding out the places that need work.

If you don't let others read and critique your work, your odds of being published are not going to be as high. Not always, of course. There are writers who never have others look at their writing and still get published. But, getting those objective opinions can be a great help, and I urge writers to do so. Maybe the good piece could become a great one if you let others critique it.

So grumble and groan if you must, but do everything in your power to make your writing publishable. Yes, you will have more work to do when you take the suggestions of those who critique your work. Nobody ever said writing would be easy. 

One last thing to remember. You do not have to take every suggestion you receive from others as ' you must change this' kind of help. Read the suggestions, ponder them a bit, then decide if you want to change it or keep as is. You are the one in charge. However, when two or more people point out the same trouble spot, sit up and listen. 

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. 

A Pep Talk For Writers

Most of you have probably seen this delightful comic strip of our favorite writer. Snoopy has no qualms in letting the editor know just what he thinks. Note how polite he is in his letter of complaint. No ranting or raving, just a gentle reminder to the editor that he must have misunderstood Snoopy's intention.

We chuckle when reading Snoopy's letter but step back a minute and take note of the really important part of what this tells us. Snoopy has a positive attitude.

I've written many times about the importance of a writer maintaining a positive attitude. Writers live in a whirlpool of rejection so it's not all that easy to keep a happy face. Round and round we go with more rejections than acceptances. Someone remarked that writers all have a masochistic streak; they must like being told NO over and over. I can assure you that it's a rare writer who enjoys rejection.

With more rejections than successes, frustration sets in and often swells. We're disappointed. We're sometimes angry. We're hurt.

But when an editor contacts us with an offer to publish our submission, we change our attitude in a hurry. What a great feeling. We can push away all those rejection emotions for awhile. We ride on a cloud as we savor the moment. Even if the editor isn't offering us $50,000 as Snoopy hoped for.

Then the inevitable happens. The rejections begin to roll in again. It's the natural rhythm of the writers' world. When you're up, then down, and repeating the same all the time, it's not easy to keep that positive attitude.

The thing I feel is most important is to believe in yourself. Believe in your ability as a writer. If you don't believe in yourself, you can't expect others to do so. You're the one who must lead the way. Don't let the whirlpool suck you down farther and farther. Swim out of it with a positive attitude.

I know that it's easier for me to tell you this than for you to accomplish it. I've been there many times myself. I know that you don't find a positive attitude once and that's it for life. Uh-uh! It would be nice but it's not the way it works. We must keep finding and refinding that positive attitude. Once you have done it, you'll find it easier each time you're feeling down and out because your writing life isn't going the way you planned.

You're still going to get rejections for some of your submissions--maybe for the majority--but if you've worked on your attitude, you will probably handle them better. You'll step back and look at the submission with an objective eye, then revise it and try again.

A key to all of this attitude business is to continue to believe in yourself as a writer. If any of what I've said today resonates with you, please share it with other writers you know.

























































































































































































































































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Be A Fighter

When we were children, our parents tried to teach us to settle problems with words. They didn't want to raise a fighter. Oh sure, they did tell us that we had a right to fight if we were defending ourselves, but they sure didn't want us out there fighting with every kid who came along. 

But here you are now--a writer who made the choice to ...give it your all.  In yesterday's post I mentioned a quote I saw and liked which said In life there are 3 choices: give in, give up, or give it your all. I'm hoping most people would choose the last one. In order to do that, you have to be a  fighter. Not literally like kids on a playground.

You can't let a rejection from an editor stop your writing journey. You might feel like giving up, but if you want your story published, you can't do that. It's time to move on  and send your work to another publication. Keep on sending it, keep on revising and editing, but don't give up. Keep fighting!

What about the give in part of that quote? Are you willing to fight with an editor or agent about making changes in your story? Or will you meekly sit back and let them rewrite your story? Granted, there are times that the editor is absolutely correct about needed changes, but put up a fight until they convince you that their way is the better way. 

When I say we should fight, I don't mean that we should rant and rave and become obnoxious. That's the quickest way to lose the battle--and an agent or editor. But you can stand up for what you believe about your story. You don't need boxing gloves when a softer approach can accomplish your needs. It's a two-way street. They talk, you listen. You talk, they listen. And somewhere you need to find a compromise. But that won't happen if you don't give it your all.

Be a fighter in the way you write, too. Don't dash off a piece in a hurry and expect it to fly out the door to be published in a major publication. Give it your all! If you do, I guarantee it is going to be a better piece and have a greater chance of publication. 

It all comes down to attitude. Pick the right choice of the three in the quote and you've also gotten the right attitude. 

Writers Can Change

Longtime friends are moving away. They decided they needed to downsize and also move to a warmer climate. No hurry, they told us. We'll put the house on the market and take it off in 4 months it it doesn't sell, try again in the spring. The first person to walk through on the first day bought it! Suddenly, their lives were turned upside down. They hadn't decided where they were going to settle, and they had to be out in a matter of 6 weeks. Change suddenly became the keyword in their life.

Writers face changes, too. Lots of them. Look how the publishing industry has done aerobatic loops and turns these last couple of decades. Self-publishing, once sneered at, has suddenly become a big deal for writers. Those who pedaled manuscripts from agent to agent and publisher to publisher unsuccessfully now have an easier way to get their book read by the public.

If you do manage to sell a book to a publisher, they no longer do all the marketing. The writer is expected to dive in headfirst in what may be deep water for them. And that's only one change in publishing houses.

Magazines look for material that is very different from what they sought one, two, or three decades ago. They've always looked for good writing and they still are. It's just a different style and different subjects that they want now. Can you change with them?

Some changes have been terrific. How much easier it is to send a submission via email or electronic form than to snail mail your copy and SASE. And let's not forget how we had to change from working on a typewriter (you do remember those, don't you?) to learning how to operate a computer.

There are always going to be changes in our personal lives and in our writing lives, as well. The writer who stubbornly refuses to change is left sitting on the curb while the other kids are having fun. We have to be willing to make changes if we want to continue having our work published. We can do it if we change one important thing first--attitude.

If ebook publishing scares you to death, stop shaking, and research the process step by step. It might not seem so daunting then. Talk to others who have published more than one ebook. Whenever a new change comes along in your writing world, approach it calmly and open yourself to learning. In the long run, it will be to your benefit. Have an "I can do this!" attitude.