Interesting thoughts, that echo my last post, from an article by Dannye Romine Powell about author, Wiley Cash, who teaches a fiction class at UNC-Asheville. Cash tells his students “All of you are already better writers than I was. You know your craft better. You’re better read. You have better ideas. The question is: How bad do you want it? Are you willing to play one less video game to allow yourself one more hour of writing time? Are you willing to wake up one hour earlier to allow yourself to work on your story? What are you willing to give up?” An perhaps the most difficult: “ Are you willing to endure years of rejection?”
His question, “How bad do you want it?” applies to just about anything we want out of life. My educational and professional experiences convinced me that those who persevere end up being successful, even if they’re not necessarily the most talented. Being extremely smart, or extremely creative or extremely fast, whatever the talent may be, is a gift, but it will only take a person so far. Completing a novel, like so many other endeavors, has more to do with one’s level of commitment than one’s level of creativity.
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"I have a great idea for a book. How can I get started?"
I hear that from at least one person at every author event. My advice is to stop thinking about doing it and “Just do it”. Writing a book is similar to training for a marathon, except that it’s going to take a lot longer. Decide to commit, and then sit down in front of your computer, or a pen and paper, and put in the time. Not every day, but most days, if you can. Just like training for a marathon, there will be days where you feel invincible and your creativity is through the roof, and there will be days where you wonder what you were thinking because you’re positive you can’t write and you’ll never get it done. The most important thing is to keep at it. A terrible first draft chapter is still a better starting place for the next day than nothing at all. Of course there is a whole lot to learn along the way, but that will come gradually and naturally as you become more involved in the effort. If you want to write a book, you can. |
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