Writers and Attitude

 

Many of you know I am a big Kansas State University football and basketball fan and supporter. After this last basketball season, our coach resigned. Always sad, as there are good and bad things about every coach's era. Jerome Tang, assistant head coach at Baylor University was hired. The portal transfer system went into high gear, and suddenly, Coach Tang had only two players left from our K-State team. 

He didn't hang his head and feel sorry for himself. Instead, he spoke in positives wherever he went, with whomever he tried to recruit, and as he hired his staff. I read an article about him this morning as he went on a Catbakcer tour across our state to meet and greet the fans. Long article filled with his great attitude. He's already recruited 5 new players, all with fine credentials, and there are more to come. He speaks to the fans with the attitude that we are going to be winners, and that outlook is transferring to those who back the Wildcats. Coach Tang's perspective is one we can all learn from.

How does the above link to writers? Attitude is a real biggie in the life of one who writes. Our poster today tells us that, if we think positive, positive things will happen. I'm a firm believer in that thought. 

Coach Tang has a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face, along with the goals he seeks. Writers should strive for the same. Moping around feeling sorry for yourself because of multiple rejections isn't going to move you very far on your writing journey. If you've set goals for your writing life, you'll reach them much faster with a positive attitude.

If you are a writer who does Morning Pages or keeps a daily journal, make it a habit to write at least one good thing about your writing world each day. More is better, but try to find one, only one, even if it is something miniscule in size or strength. If you've got plenty of negatives to write about in your journal, go ahead. It helps to vent sometimes, But don't forget to pen one positive.

The poet, Maya Angelou, has given us many fine quotes, but one I especially like is:

             If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.

If you go to a search engine and look for quotes on attitude, you'll find an abundance of well-known people whose advice we should consider carefully. These words are from successful humans. If it worked for them, their thoughts could work for us if we begin to practice having a positive attitude. 

When I run into a snag in my writing life, I'm resolving to look at it with Coach Tang's positive attitude. Can't hurt, and it's very likely to help. How about you? Are you willing to give it a try? 

Change is Not Easy

 

Today's poster is simple with only a few words. Even so, it gives us some powerful advice. If you change nothing, nothing will change.

Stop and think about what the quote tells us. When we feel stuck in a rut, we often sit in that rut and feel sorry for ourselves. The longer we stay there, the worse we feel. Negative thoughts take over, and suddenly we not only slow down our writing but may even come to a complete halt.

How do we make changes that will be beneficial to our writing life? 

First, we need to analyze the situation. Step back and give an honest look to whatever is keeping you from making progress. Sometimes, circumstances put us in a funk, but we also need to be honest and see if we are part of the problem. Is it our attitude or those many negative thoughts or the 'poor me' feeling that is helping to make the problem worse? 

Maybe it's the way editors are changing in what they seek to publish. What we need to do is to figure out what they are looking for and try to change our slant, too. Most of us avoid change because we are comfortable doing what we've always done. It may be comfortable, but we're not going to make progress in our writing journey if we are too stubborn to make some changes.

Have you ever been to a meeting at church or your children's school or some other organization where a new idea is floated? Inevitably, someone will say, 'But we've never done it that way.' That's probably true, but it doesn't mean you can't try something new. I've always felt that if the new way doesn't work, you have the option to go back to what had been done before.

If making changes in your writing habits is difficult for you, seek the thoughts of a fellow writer. Or writers. Bring up your problem at a writers group meeting, or have coffee and talk one on one with another writer. Don't go to a nonwriting friend for advice about writing troubles. They may mean well, but they don't thoroughly understand the writing world. 

One of the most important parts of changing things that don't work is being willing to change. You can be stubborn and hold to your old habits, but you'll stay mired in the problem. Attitude is a major part of changing our ways. 

If something in your writing life isn't working, take some time to analyze, seek help, and be willing to make changes. If you don't like what you've changed, you can always revert to the way you did things originally. You're in charge.

Change is not easy, but it can be very beneficial.

Writers As Mountain Climbers

 

On our writing journey, we have one happy day after another. The sun always shines on our writing. We are gleeful day in and day out. 

If only all the above were true! Instead, our writing journey is filled with potholes and other roadblocks. Our poster today tells us that everything is going to be alright. That's soothing. But then, the little girl says '...maybe not today but eventually'  That's the hard part.

Our own common sense tells us that all those problems we run into when we write will be fixed or look better later, not necessarily today. What we must do is to remember that and not let what feels like an insurmountable problem knock us right off our writer's pedestal. 

Writer's pedestal--you know that place we put ourselves when we're feeling good, when everything is going well, or when we've just received an acceptance, or published a book. And why not? When life is positive, we should enjoy whatever is happening. We know we'll slip right off the pedestal when the next trouble spot arises.

The writer's world is one of ups and downs. If you drew a graph showing same, it would look like a series of mountains. Isn't that what we do as we write? Climb one mountain after another until the problem is solved. The successful writer is the one who keeps climbing after she/he has slid down from one of the peaks. The writer who gives up sits at the bottom and stops trying to climb to the top of the next mountain.

We sometimes need an attitude adjustment when writing woes get us down. Once again, determination is key to solving our writing problems. That and knowing that it is up to us to get through whatever trouble spot we're in. 

We also must keep in mind that eventually, everything's going to be alright.

Talk To Your Mirror

I write a lot on my blog about believing in yourself, having self-respect, and looking at your writing journey with a positive attitude. One of my purposes here is to encourage writers and after years of being in the writing world, I know that all three of these things are necessary to succeed and that we can change by facing each day as a new day.

I am also aware that it's pretty easy to tell someone to work on the three things mentioned above but a lot harder to achieve them. It doesn't happen in an hour, or a day, or even a week. Change can be achingly slow. It's why we try to make changes and then give up when we don't see results as soon as we'd like. Kind of like those New Year's resolutions we'll make next month.

Many years ago, in the very early days of my writing journey, I attended a writers conference in Kansas City. The keynote speaker at the luncheon spoke to us about being brave enough to call yourself a writer. Too many writers, she told us, don't think they can claim the name until they are published. "Not true!" she bellowed, startling many in the room. She said that anyone who writes a story, an essay, a poem, an article can and should call themself a writer. She recommended that we practice saying I am a writer. while looking in the mirror every day.

Think about that. If you utter those four words to your image in the mirror day after day, you might suddenly begin to believe it. You could even add a word and tell yourself I am a good writer. What a good and simple way to learn to believe in yourself as a writer. When someone asks what you do, tell them whatever your job is and then say I'm also a writer. The more you say it, the easier it will become.

If you believe in your writing ability, self-respect should follow. It's the natural flow. The next station your train will stop is a place where you acquire a positive attitude about your writing journey. If you put your own writing down time and again, you'll end up wallowing in a pool of negativity. Try the mirror exercise and maybe your attitude will be positive more often than not.

Remember my friend who pedaled her essay to seventeen editors before one accepted it? She did it because she believed in her ability to write a good essay, thereby believing in herself. She respected herself as a writer and she carried a positive attitude with her. Maybe for her, it was a natural thing. How fortunate are those people who have that natural self-esteem. Lots of others have to work hard at achieving it.

Maybe a teacher or a parent, a friend or a sibling criticized your writing or your desire to be a writer. Experiences like that push you down pretty fast and it's not easy to change. The best part is that you can do it with time, with effort and maybe by looking into the mirror and telling yourself I am a writer. I am a good writer.