Well thankfully since my last post, I am in a decidedly better mood/place. I took a slight break from my writing, a cautionary step back and away, to clear my head. This was relatively easy, since March is an extremely busy month for me!
First I had to plan two birthday parties and attend two. That's right there are five, count them five, members of my family with birthdays in March. Since my husband and eldest son are born on the same day (the 8th), and my nephew born the day after (the 9th), there were negotiations for their birthday parties. We ended up with my nephew's 2nd b-day party on the 5th and Hubby's 38th and my big boy's 5th on the 6th. Then the next weekend was my baby's 3rd b-day party *sob*. Now I just have Manda's 22nd coming up on the 19th. Meanwhile, Mom has threatened to disown us all, if any of us even considers having another baby in March. I guess there is no hanky panky allowed in the month of June for any of us! Which is fine with me, since we are literally broke when this month finally winds down.
Anyway, in my spare time I have totally been stalking Kiersten White's blog. (ie: procrastinating) If any of you haven't read it, do. She is really witty and funny, and sometimes I could tear my hair out with jealousy over how easy writing seems to come to her. But once I conquer those rare moments of insanity, I usually glean a lot of sound advice and encouragement, or most importantly a laugh!
So if you have the time, check out this particular post which really helped me http://kierstenwrites.blogspot.com/2009/08/kierstens-updated-guide-to-getting.html
So that is it for now, back to the grindstone. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
It's One of Those Kind of Days....
For weeks now I've been staying up late editing and reworking my story. Everything's going great, I'm flying through my pages feeling confident and connected, and then I hit a wall. If you're a fellow writer you might recognize this feeling. It's horrible and defeating, and at the time it feels like it will go on and on, pounding in swelling waves against your already fragile ego. It's known as self-doubt. Something in my daily life that I already struggle against.
Maybe mine is rooted in the fact that I am the oldest of five children. Maybe it's because I didn't get enough attention with three rambunctious brothers and a baby sister. But to me, it's the overwhelming feeling that I come up short when compared to the brilliance and otherwise general coolness of my four siblings. I feel like I'm hovering, trying desperately to grasp a firm hold on my own potential greatness. I'm plagued with wanting to fit in, not being so loud, and not saying the random weird things that sometimes leap from my mouth with no warning.
Now all that said, my family in no way feels this way about me, it's mostly in my head. My siblings love me and accept me, and generally think that I'm great (even if I'm not nearly as cool as all of them, and slightly over affectionate) My parents have always supported me in my love of reading and writing (except that one time when I wrote a short story where the mom was dead, and my Mom thought I was mad at her and that I wished she were dead), and my husband insists I'm the best writer he's ever read (this does not really count, because he does not read!!! Let me clarify...he never reads unless it's a gun magazine. As if that counts!)
But believing in yourself is a harder than one might think. Especially when you read the works of such authors as Stephenie Meyers, Cassandra Clare, Kiersten White, etc. However, my husband is quick to remind me that everyone has their own writing style and voice, and this is what makes each of us unique.
So please disregard my dreary self-pitying blog, because by tomorrow morning I will probably have snapped out of this oppressive slump. But for the moment, it's weighing me down.
Maybe mine is rooted in the fact that I am the oldest of five children. Maybe it's because I didn't get enough attention with three rambunctious brothers and a baby sister. But to me, it's the overwhelming feeling that I come up short when compared to the brilliance and otherwise general coolness of my four siblings. I feel like I'm hovering, trying desperately to grasp a firm hold on my own potential greatness. I'm plagued with wanting to fit in, not being so loud, and not saying the random weird things that sometimes leap from my mouth with no warning.
Now all that said, my family in no way feels this way about me, it's mostly in my head. My siblings love me and accept me, and generally think that I'm great (even if I'm not nearly as cool as all of them, and slightly over affectionate) My parents have always supported me in my love of reading and writing (except that one time when I wrote a short story where the mom was dead, and my Mom thought I was mad at her and that I wished she were dead), and my husband insists I'm the best writer he's ever read (this does not really count, because he does not read!!! Let me clarify...he never reads unless it's a gun magazine. As if that counts!)
But believing in yourself is a harder than one might think. Especially when you read the works of such authors as Stephenie Meyers, Cassandra Clare, Kiersten White, etc. However, my husband is quick to remind me that everyone has their own writing style and voice, and this is what makes each of us unique.
So please disregard my dreary self-pitying blog, because by tomorrow morning I will probably have snapped out of this oppressive slump. But for the moment, it's weighing me down.
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