JB's Aphotic Scriptorium

...My writing sanctuary...

Okay, this is for everyone that is currently writing a novel, has ever thought about writing a novel, or has given up on writing one.

Let me start off by saying: You can do it!! And I'm dead serious!!
You're right; I don't know you personally, or what your possible book idea might be, but I do know that everyone has the ability to write a book. I know that many of you will exit my page thinking that I'm deluded into thinking you could actually do it, but stay with me if only until this post is done, then you can decide.

First things first; my story (it's relevant, trust me on this).
Okay, a several years ago, I started getting these wonderful ideas about everything imaginable. I thought they were perfect for a story and naively sat around waiting for some other author to come up with it so I could read it. Then, a few years ago, I started thinking about what it be like if I made the stories come to life, because, by then, I was old enough to know that no one was going to come up with exactly what I had in mind. The only thing that got in the way of grabbing a pencil and furiously writing down my own ideas was...
Me.
I was the only thing standing in the way. Not the fact that I had no time to do it, or the resources, or the support. I was the only problem.
I had no confidence in myself what so ever. I told myself that I could never do it, so why even try? Which often became a self-fulfilling prophecy, because I wouldn't try, and would mentally go back to it later and say "See, you didn't do that, so what makes you think you can deal with this?".
Vicious cycle, really.
After a good 2 years, I was exhausted with having to deal with my constant belittling and negative thoughts on writing. It was then that I gave in to my ideas, and they have carried me far beyond what I had ever thought remotely possible.

How does this relate to you though? A completely different person, with a completely different life?
It relates quite a bit actually. You need to get over that first immediate and reflexive thought of "I can't". I thought I couldn't. I would have bet the entire world and all of it's inhabitants that I would never ever be able to write a book.
You're all really lucky that I didn't bet that, because what am I doing now? I am writing my very own book. MY own book. Something I would have never thought possible, but the fact is I'm doing it.
But what if you don't have the talent to? Firstly I disagree (I firmly believe you can, because I can, and what better example do you need?). Let me use an example to get my point across.
Okay, imagine there are 20 people in a room. Ten of them have absolutely fabulous ideas with practically no time on their hands, and the other ten have good ideas with some time in between their jobs and are committed to writing.
Who do you think has a better chance of writing a book?
I believe that less emphasis shouls be put on the actual idea of a story, and more on actually finishing it. I know, sounds off, but think it through a bit. If you don't put the time in, you'll get nothing out whether or not you have the best ideas. You need to put time into it while you are doing it, and time after to edit what you've written.

And no excuses! I relied on those to push down my writing urge for years, but in the end my creative side won out. Don't say:
-I don't have time
-I don't have the support I need
-My idea just isn't good enough
-I'll never be as good as the famous authors.
You do have time, and if you don't think you do than how do you have time to be reading this post (ha, got you there, didn't I?)? If you don't have the support, that's okay, really. None of my friends or family knows I'm writing a book, and won't most likely until I finish. Why? I want his book to be about me. I don't want other people influencing it, and I don't want to change what happens because that's what everyone else wants. My book is for me. Some people do need support, but I will come back to this at a later date (don't worry).
And really, I'm a fairly nice person, and would love to hear about your stories and what you need help with. I would love to give you all the advice I can, because I probably have come across it or problems like it at some point.
Don't think you ideas are good enough? Well, you aren't writing for the general public (yet), so write the book for you, and not for what people will think are "good" ideas. Remember, you are writing for you, so if you don't like the idea, find a new one. You have the control over this, so exercise it!
As far as the last one goes, if you don't try you'll never be as good as famous authors. Don't give up on it before you have even started. If it helps, I'm positive that even the most famous authors had some doubts about their work while they wrote their own books, but they tried and did it. So can you.

Now, before I end this, I'm not saying that it's always going to be butterflies and unicorns and chocolate bunnies all the time; you, like every other writer, will hit some rough patches, and hard situations. But that's just like everything else in life. You don't give up on sports because you sprained a toe; you deal with it, and work with it, and move past it, and remembered what you've learned from it. Hard thing to deal with means you have a better oppurtunity to grow from it. Count it as a blessing.

You can do it!!!
A few of the points I made I will come back a elaborate on, but for now, I'll leave you ponder (as you leave comments :D).

JB

1 comments:

Really inspiring and thoughtful. I definitly will be using this to keep myself going, thanks xx

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About this blog

This blog is devoted to the art of writing. It is here where I will post about my writing life and my novels, as well as give advice to other aspiring novelists. Remember to start with "On Writing: Aspiring Writers..." then work your way up.
Enjoy :D

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