Okay.
I know I have talent, but I'm for sure also wielding my perseverance
(although I hope not in a bludgeon-esque manner).
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Tag Archives: writing – perseverance
Self-Exposure
Creative writing is a harrowing business, a terrifying commitment
to an absolute. This is it, the writer must say to himself, and I must
stand or fall upon what I have put down. The degree of self-exposure
is crucifying. And doubt is a constant companion. What if I am not as
good as I thought? is a question that always nags, and can cripple.
~ Walter Kerr
image from morguefile.com
Today I’m struggling to stand upon the words I’ve put down.
Begone, doubt!
I Can’t Let This Manuscript Die!
This second draft is giving me fits
and I'm suddenly the Queen of Procrastination
as I look for something, anything to do besides revise.
But my project is like this shark:
if I don't keep moving foward
there is a good chance the book will die.
image from morguefile.com
Must. Give. It. Oxygen.
In Search of the Aha Moment
I'm working with a premise I think is timely and thought-provoking
but cannot seem to wrap my head around the story's tone.
I'm on the second draft and have written and rewritten
the first two chapters a whole bunch of times,
each version feeling incrementally closer to
what the story needs yet not close enough for that Aha moment.
Part of the problem is I'm used to writing funny
and this premise doesn't easily lend itself to humor
although it could probably be done; I'm just not sure I want that tone.
Another issue is maybe this story would be better told
as a young adult novel rather than middle-grade.
So.
I've already switched from first-person to third
and now I'm thinking maybe go full-blown creepy dystoptian YA
rather than slightly funny middle-grade.
Sigh.
I need to focus, dammit.
image from morguefile.com
Because I spent MANY hours in pool halls, I'm channeling my inner shark
in hopes of zeroing in in on what needs to be done.
However, if anyone has sage advice on how to successfully wrangle a story idea,
I'm happy to put down the cue and listen.
Power Salute
I'm having one of those days.
Perhaps you know the kind,
the sort of day filled with blue thoughts and questions of worth.
But I'm fighting back
and taking a cue from Batman.
© Tracy Abell 2011
I've put on my Big Girl pants and am pushing on through.
On Running and Writing
Zebu and Wildebeest are distance runners on the track team.
They have a teammate who started the season training with the sprinters.
One evening Zebu told me this kid (I’ll call him Whiz), accidentally missed the turnoff
for the sprinters during that day’s practice and instead ran the distance practice (4-5 miles).
With awe in his voice, Zebu said, "He kept up the whole way."
A couple weeks ago, the coach needed to fill some slots because of injuries and
put Whiz into an 800 meter race (two laps around the track which equals one half-mile).
Whiz won his heat.
A few days later, Whiz was on the 4 X 800 relay (each runner does two laps and
then passes a baton to the next runner on team).
The boy passing the baton to Whiz accidentally stepped on the back of Whiz’s shoe and
Whiz spent valuable seconds trying to get the shoe back on his foot before kicking it off
and running his two laps with one shoe on and one shoe off.
Whiz’s time in that race beat Zebu’s best time.
This past weekend, Whiz ran his first 1600 meter race (four laps which equals one mile).
He ran it in 5:11, beating Zebu and Wildebeest’s best times.
Zebu is proud of Whiz, a fellow freshman and super nice kid,
but is also flabbergasted by his ability to run so fast without all the miles
Zebu and Wildebeest have logged in their training.
I can relate.
Not just in my own running, but in my writing life, too.
I told Zebu that there are Naturals and there are Work Horses
(and, of course, Naturals who work very, very hard to get even better).
I told him about the hardworking top-runner on my high school cross country team
who was knocked from her number-one spot by a freshman girl who just showed up
and blew everyone else away.
Then I said, "It’s a lot like the journey to publication. There are some people who write
the perfect book at the perfect time, and their careers take off. Then there are those
who have to work hard for a long, long time to get there. I’m one of those work horses."
His silence told me maybe I shouldn’t have put it in those terms.
Zebu’s had an up-close and sometimes painful window into my quest for publication,
and my unpublished status probably makes me a not-so-good poster child for Work Horses.
It’s true.
I’ve worked long and I’ve worked hard, and publication still hasn’t happened for me.
But whenever I wonder whether it’s time to let go of the dream,
I think about my kids witnessing my efforts over the years.
And while I know hard work is no guarantee of success,
I also know I don’t want them to think of me as The Work Horse Who Never Reached Her Goal.
So I guess that means, at least for the time being, I’ll keep doing what it takes.
I’ll be the Work Horse with one shoe on and one shoe off,
running hard for that finish line.
running hard for that finish line.
The LiveJournal Band
Sometimes I wish I was in a band
so I’d have someone right there with me,
sharing the sweat and inspiration.
image from morguefile.com
The ups and downs.
Complete with power chords and jarring chords,
and finally, that elusive record deal.
But I guess this community comes pretty close.
So, who’s got tambourine?
Revising. Again
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman,
before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
~ John Quincy Adams
I had the great good fortune of receiving a free manuscript evaluation and critique
from Sacha Whalen via the Blue Boards.
It was fast and comprehensive.
Sacha had much good to say about BIRD BRAIN,
but pointed out (among many other things), that
the opening chapters could be stronger.
She even gave me an excellent suggestion on how to do that,
a way to raise the stakes throughout the story.
So here I go again.
I’m mostly excited, but also a little bit scared.
Courage is saying, "Maybe what I’m doing isn’t working;
maybe I should try something else."
~ ANNA LAPPÉ
maybe I should try something else."
~ ANNA LAPPÉ
Girding My Loins
I’m ready to wade back in there
and begin reshaping BIRD BRAIN’s opening chapters.
And then complete another (final?) round of revisions.
I’m equal parts anticipation and dread.
Image from morguefile.com
Cue whatever music it is I need to hear right now . . .
Here’s hoping . . .
I have some tasks that must be finished today,
and figured a little prayer might be helpful:
Praying mantis © Tracy Abell 2010
