Sunday, April 25, 2010

Wannabe Writers (1)

Who am I?


I'm Cinnamon - mom, wife, student, usually good employee, avid reader, and aspiring writer.  I've been writing stories on and off since I was a kid.  I grew up surrounded by a love of language and have been lucky enough to witness my mom's success story in the world of writing and getting published.  From her achievements, I know getting published is something I can do...well, usually I know it.  Okay, let's be honest, I have a defeatist attitude and have to remind myself constantly that I can do anything I want as long as I put in the time and energy to make it happen.

So how come I never remember that?

One major hurdle for me is I don't really feel like I have anyone I can talk to about this.  The major influences in my life have a way of being too critical and simply telling me that I have no time.  Also, although it may sound horrible, I don't trust the advice from them as they refuse to take advice from anyone else.  My husband is supportive, but he doesn't actually...umm...read, so he doesn't have a lot of advice for me.

Where am I as a writer?


I have a whole folder of projects that have been started, but never completed.  Typically, I'll begin something with high hopes but then read something that may be similar or otherwise second guess the story.  I drop it and move on to something else.  To date I have yet to complete anything.

I would say that I really have two WIPs at the moment.  One I started about a month ago and is detailed on this blog by the word count meters.  The other one I haven't touched in probably over a year.  It's sitting stagnant at around 35,000 words.  Everything else is in such an infantile stage that I hesitate to use the term WIP.

My question:


So now you know a little bit about me.  My major question is how you keep yourself motivated and keep from talking yourself out of the story?  Does anyone else even suffer from this?  I would like to finish my current WIP (as in just get the words on paper/screen) but already I can feel the stirrings of, "This is crud, give up now."

3 comments:

  1. I suffer from this too. And everytime I doubt myself I start something new or re-work the same story. I don't really have an answer for this. I don't know either. I'm trying to just finish and worry later but I can't seem to do that.

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  2. Don't it is only the first draft. I used to do the same thing only much earlier but really you just need to remember," This is first Draft editing whatever crap I put out right now comes later!!"

    That is now the saying I live by!

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  3. The best way to combat the doubt and procrastination is to challenge them head on by asking yourself a very tough question, "What's my payoff?" In many instances fear is the culprit. However, it usually wears two faces. Some are afraid of failing and others are leery of achievement. After you've discovered your payoff, be specific about the price you're paying to continue the behavior.

    Good luck. :)

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