I am starting the blog as part of my journey to be a published author.
Many moons ago (More than I care to think.) I started writing. I believe I was still in high school when I started. I did it off and on for about ten years, not accomplishing much. A few short stories and a couple novel ideas that I just never finished. When I was around twenty-five I gave up. I could sit here and list the stupid reasons I told myself for murdering my own dream, but since they were stupid I won't. Truth is not one was a valid reason for giving up.
Since then I never stopped thinking about ideas for potential books. I'm a constant day dreamer and the amount of music, books, movies, T.V., and other sources of creativity that I exposed myself to were always inspiring me with one flight of fantasy or another. But instead of doing anything about it I continued to sit, feel sorry for myself and do nothing. Sadly I have issues with depression and a lack of self-confidence (Strange how those two seem to go together.).
Then one fateful day I was introduced to the books that would perform a bit of necromancy on my creative spirit.
Jim Butcher's 'The Dresden Files'
I devoured them like Jabba The Hutt at an all you can eat frog leg buffet. With every laugh, thrill, and tear I kept saying to myself, "This is what I wanted to do!", "These are the kinds of stories I wanted to tell."
And thus did the ashes of my dream reveal sparks of long buried embers.
Also stoking the fires of my dream were the words of director/writer Kevin Smith. I had been following his work for years and had started to watch his Q&A DVD's. One night I was watching 'Kevin Smith: Burn In Hell' and his words toward the end moved me. Here was an every-man, a regular dude just like me, someone I could really relate to. He achieved his dream, was it possible that I could to?
What finally clinched it was an entry on Jim Butcher's blog:
Many moons ago (More than I care to think.) I started writing. I believe I was still in high school when I started. I did it off and on for about ten years, not accomplishing much. A few short stories and a couple novel ideas that I just never finished. When I was around twenty-five I gave up. I could sit here and list the stupid reasons I told myself for murdering my own dream, but since they were stupid I won't. Truth is not one was a valid reason for giving up.
Since then I never stopped thinking about ideas for potential books. I'm a constant day dreamer and the amount of music, books, movies, T.V., and other sources of creativity that I exposed myself to were always inspiring me with one flight of fantasy or another. But instead of doing anything about it I continued to sit, feel sorry for myself and do nothing. Sadly I have issues with depression and a lack of self-confidence (Strange how those two seem to go together.).
Then one fateful day I was introduced to the books that would perform a bit of necromancy on my creative spirit.
Jim Butcher's 'The Dresden Files'
I devoured them like Jabba The Hutt at an all you can eat frog leg buffet. With every laugh, thrill, and tear I kept saying to myself, "This is what I wanted to do!", "These are the kinds of stories I wanted to tell."
And thus did the ashes of my dream reveal sparks of long buried embers.
Also stoking the fires of my dream were the words of director/writer Kevin Smith. I had been following his work for years and had started to watch his Q&A DVD's. One night I was watching 'Kevin Smith: Burn In Hell' and his words toward the end moved me. Here was an every-man, a regular dude just like me, someone I could really relate to. He achieved his dream, was it possible that I could to?
What finally clinched it was an entry on Jim Butcher's blog:
"There probably aren't going to be very many people who are actively supporting your efforts. You'll probably have more than one person say or do something that crushes your heart like an empty Coke can. You'll probably, at some point, want to quit rather than keep facing that uncertainty
In fact, the vast majority of aspiring authors (somewhere over 99 percent) self-terminate their dream. They quit. Think about this for a minute, because it's important: THEY KILL THEIR OWN DREAM.
And a lot of you who read this are going to do it too. Doesn't mean you're a bad person. It's just human nature. It takes a lot of motivation to make yourself keep going when it feels like no one wants to read your stuff, no one will ever want to read your stuff, and you've wasted your time creating all this stuff. That feeling of hopelessness is part of the process. Practically everyone gets it at one time or another. Most can't handle it.
But here's the secret:
YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD WHO CAN KILL YOUR DREAM. *NO ONE* can make you quit. *NO ONE* can take your dream away.
No one but you.
If you want it, you have to get it. You. An author can't help you. An editor can't help you. An agent can't help you. If you want to climb that hill, the only way to do it is to make yourself do it, one foot in front of another, one word after another. It will probably be the greatest challenge most of you have ever faced.
And here's the kicker: THAT IS A VERY GOOD THING."
In fact, the vast majority of aspiring authors (somewhere over 99 percent) self-terminate their dream. They quit. Think about this for a minute, because it's important: THEY KILL THEIR OWN DREAM.
And a lot of you who read this are going to do it too. Doesn't mean you're a bad person. It's just human nature. It takes a lot of motivation to make yourself keep going when it feels like no one wants to read your stuff, no one will ever want to read your stuff, and you've wasted your time creating all this stuff. That feeling of hopelessness is part of the process. Practically everyone gets it at one time or another. Most can't handle it.
But here's the secret:
YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD WHO CAN KILL YOUR DREAM. *NO ONE* can make you quit. *NO ONE* can take your dream away.
No one but you.
If you want it, you have to get it. You. An author can't help you. An editor can't help you. An agent can't help you. If you want to climb that hill, the only way to do it is to make yourself do it, one foot in front of another, one word after another. It will probably be the greatest challenge most of you have ever faced.
And here's the kicker: THAT IS A VERY GOOD THING."
Reading those words, it was like he was talking to me. I had been feeling guilt for years for being a failure and a quitter. But Mr. Butcher made realize that just because I had quit, didn't mean I couldn't start again. I read the rest of the entries in his blog ( http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/ ) and it turned out that it's mainly a guide for newbie authors to get started on writing a book. Jim Butcher became my Jedi Master and I his padawan learner.
I had an idea that had been brewing and bubbling in my head for years so combined with the inspiration of Kevin Smith and the path laid out for me by my favorite author I began for the first time in seven years to write. It was a rocky beginning but I am starting to hit my stride. The most difficult part is fighting against myself and my own stupid self-doubts.
But I'm not stopping this time. I am aiming to publish on the Kindle market. Regardless whether it is a hit or not, I am going to continue writing and have tentative plans for at least four more books in the series and a few other unrelated to my current project. I will be updating this hopefully at least once a week (And in between if anything cool comes up.). You can follow me on my Facebook page:
I had an idea that had been brewing and bubbling in my head for years so combined with the inspiration of Kevin Smith and the path laid out for me by my favorite author I began for the first time in seven years to write. It was a rocky beginning but I am starting to hit my stride. The most difficult part is fighting against myself and my own stupid self-doubts.
But I'm not stopping this time. I am aiming to publish on the Kindle market. Regardless whether it is a hit or not, I am going to continue writing and have tentative plans for at least four more books in the series and a few other unrelated to my current project. I will be updating this hopefully at least once a week (And in between if anything cool comes up.). You can follow me on my Facebook page:
Or on my Twitter account:
I hope to hear from anyone interested enough to do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment