Every writer wants the process of writing to be easy. We want our writing to pour forth as if from an inexhaustible reservoir. We all want our first and only drafts to become bestsellers. And we want our readers to not only get us, but to never get enough of us. When we show up for readings, Madison Square Garden wouldn’t be big enough to hold all of our loyal fans.
In The Color of Money, the only movie for which Paul Newman ever won a Best Actor Oscar, there’s a scene near the end where he’s playing against the once infamous real-life pool player Steve “The Miz” Mizerack, and after Steve loses to Paul, Steve says, “I didn’t deserve that.”
And without the slightest hesitation, Paul’s character, Fast Eddie Felson, replies, “Yes, you did.”
The reason Fast Eddie said, “Yes, you did.” is the same reason too many writers the world over self-destruct, fail and quit writing.
Let’s face it, we all want to become better writers. Don’t we? I know I do. I strive to become a better writer every day, and in order to improve I’ve discovered the secret is in having awesome resources at your disposal.
What follows are a list of links to resources I’ve found pretty darn useful. Most are remarkable blog posts containing brilliant tips, tricks, and top secret, secrets.
One of the most frequent questions I receive is: How can I write and hold down a day job at the same time?
There’s a common belief (and a few myths that support it) that you can only do one or the other. But that’s not true.
The odds are if you write in public you want people to read your work. Seems like a reasonable assumption. I mean, if we don’t care if anyone’s reading our work, then we should stick to personal journals that we keep hidden under our pillows.
You can hide your work if you want to, and if you hide your work you’ll never let yourself down. But if you’re interested in getting your work noticed don’t fall for the myths presented in this post.
It goes beyond mere writer’s block. It doesn’t care about deadlines, and can stopper your writing voice for months at a time. It’s deep, it’s baffling and it’s not often talked about in writing circles.
It’s writer’s burnout.
And whether you’re published or not, prolific or not, writer’s burnout is coming for you. In fact, I’m sure you’ve already experienced it, and perhaps you’re even battling it right now. Are you ready to beat it?