Articles and Links
Reflections on Writing: Press On
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, ‘Press on’, has solved and always will solve, the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
Persistence. Determination.
Two words, but oh, the blood, the sweat, and the tears that lay behind them. So why don’t we just give up? Is it ego? The idea that what we do is better than ‘good’? Or is it simply that we have a story - no, better make that stories - inside of us that are begging to be told, shared, wept over, enjoyed?
One of the many things that have become apparent to me since I joined RWNZ in 1993 is that persistence wins. I look around me at the number of my friends and acquaintances through the organisation who were ‘aspiring authors’ and are now ‘authors’. They are among the most talented, and educated geniuses (or should that be, genii?) it has been my privilege to know, and most of all they were persistent and determined.
Persistent in the belief that their stories deserved not only to be told, but to be read and enjoyed by the romance reading public. Determined in the purpose of bringing those stories to publication.
It has never been enough just to be talented. We are all storytellers, each in our own unique way. Every one of us has characters whose journey of love deserves to be told. How many times have you heard someone mention in passing “Oh but she/he had so much talent when they were younger [or whenever]”? Talent can always be there but if not used persistently and determinedly it can fall by the wayside along with mediocrity.
It has never been enough just to be a genius (just to be a genius? I hear you cry incredulously!) Well, okay, maybe geniuses have their place. But how much genius goes unfulfilled because of a lack of understanding or appreciation in our world. How many geniuses are permitted to truly reach their potential?
It has never been enough just to be educated. How many of us have been daunted by reading the academic qualifications of so many authors. They are brilliant - their minds developed by the rigours of study, lectures, exams, and theses. How many others are there in the wide world who are similarly, or even more highly, educated who have achieved little or nothing since attaining their scholastic goals purely for the lack persistence and determination.
So how persistent and determined are you? Do you take a step towards your writing dream every day? Or is it every week? Maybe it is every month. Or is this a ‘now and then’ dream to you?
I only have two words left… ‘Press on’.
Reflections on Writing: Professional Jealousy
There has been some interesting discussion in regard to professional jealousy and how damaging it can be. Personally, I believe that the jealous one is the really damaged party in these instances. During those times that I have been in the pits of envy over other people's successes, it has always turned inwards onto me, affecting how I feel, how I work, and how I see my work. Seeing others reach the success you so desperately crave for yourself has the potential to turn you into a Jeckyll and Hyde sometimes - you're thrilled to bits they've achieved, and you REALLY wish it was you.
When I've allowed my envy to turn inwards it has poisoned everything I've done. I don't know about the rest of you but when I'm in a foul, (and I seriously mean foul), mood eventually everyone in my whole family eventually joins me. Ugh!
I learned a very valuable lesson in a saying some time ago – “Sadness shared is halved...but happiness shared is doubled” – and happily, I have found it to be incredibly true and also empowering at the same time. You have to let yourself believe it is true, however, to enjoy the genuine benefit.
We were fortunate to have Stephanie Laurens speak at the RWNZ Inc. conference in August 2002. There were a zillion things she said that were worth remembering... but one that stands out the most strongly in my mind is “A rising tide floats all ships”. In other words, the more sales, the more readers there are out there enjoying them and the more they want to read. So why miss the boat? Why be one of the green-eyed few on the dock wishing you could attain your dreams, when if you just focus on what you want to do, you'll get there? It is too easy to let professional jealously get the better of you. It is harder not to. We all learn something along the journey.
I've heard a saying, “Great people are just ordinary people with great desire”. So true. And so it is for writers/authors. All it comes down to in the end is your own desire to do well. One thing is for certain, the more you dwell on what you haven't achieved, the less you achieve. Why dwell on what you don't want when you can create what you do?
Sure, we put ourselves in the firing line when we enter competitions, send our work out to editors and agents but if we continually avoid criticism by doing none of the above, what are we? Do we say nothing? Do nothing? Be nothing?
I think for some people, it is far, far easier to be jealous and critical, than it is to be magnanimous and genuinely full of praise and appreciation. I feel very sad for them because they turn their envy in on themselves and they'll never grow any further in what they do until they learn to be happy for others, and I empathise with them. I’ve been there, and no doubt I’ll revisit that place again from time to time. After all, none of us are perfect. But we can control how we learn and grow and feel, and how we support one another – with sincerity.
Reflections on Writing: Lending a Hand
Many people cringe and rear back in horror when asked to volunteer for an organisation. I’ve been guilty of that too. But what I believe a lot of people don’t realise, is that ‘lending a hand’ is a two-way street and you can get out what you put in.
I’ve never worked on a committee without being enriched by the experience in one way or another. Being either an active office holder, or a background committee member just there to help out when required, has opened so many new doors of opportunity. When you’re involved, you show you care. When you’re involved, you show you’re serious. When you’re involved, you have the opportunity to meet and make terrific new friends, liase directly with marketing staff, editors, authors… you name it! The sky’s the limit. And all simply because you’re ‘lending a hand’.
What has this got to do with your writing, you ask? Well, wouldn’t you rather know that when your manuscript goes across an editorial desk that your name will give a heads up signal to the editor because she’s already met you, or spoken to you on business relating to your romance organisation, or sat next to you and enjoyed a wonderful discussion over a meal at conference? Wouldn’t you like to be able to reach out and, without embarrassment or fear of overstepping the mark, be able to ask writing advice directly from published authors whom you admire?
Wouldn’t you like to know that because of your contribution to your organisation that it will continue to run and continue to offer you and your fellow members opportunities to enter competitions and have the chance to have your work judged by experienced writers and readers and see your read by an editor?
What’s holding you back? Time? Passion? Shyness?
Many hands make light work in continuing to run an organisation such as Romance Writers of New Zealand, Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of America, and its various chapters, in a professional and respected manner. I’m proud to be a member of those organisations. I’m also proud to have worked both in the background and the foreground within RWNZ Inc. in past years.
Why don’t you ask yourself, “What can I bring to my organisation? How can I lighten the load?” Then get in contact with your organisation or chapter president, and see where you could be ‘lending a hand’.
Reflections on Writing: The Definition of Impossible (Almost!)
To me, writing is like an onion. Not only can it reduce you to tears, but also when approached correctly can have a very satisfying outcome.
I think good writing is all about layers. You know the kind, the bits they call emotional punch. Most of us have had that dreaded, “lacks emotional punch” letter at least once in our writing lives. There’s nothing worse, is there? ‘They want emotional punch, they can have it. I’ll show them emotional punch!’ I always say, before stomping off around the house, growling at all and sundry for the next seven days at least.
But what is emotional punch? How do we define it while we are learning to do better what we thought we already did well?
Well, to my way of thinking, that takes us back to the onion. First, there is the obvious – the skin. Not all skins are the same of course. Some have flaws, are slightly damaged or torn away, pretty much of a muchness in colour in your average onion. But over and above the skin there is the size and the shape of the onion. Suddenly we’re into more detail and definition, and that is even before we start separating the layers of the flesh of the onion.
Sit in front of the mirror and look at your face. Now really look at it, hard. What do you see? Take special notice of all the tiny things that make you, you. The chicken pox scar from when you were a kid, and missed your best friend’s birthday party because you were too sick to go. Or that bump on your nose from where your brother whacked you across the face with a piece of track from his slot car set, on a rainy school holiday. Or even that little quirky dent in your ear that your Dad had, and which you’ve passed on to your kids. All of these are layers. Layers that make you the person you are. In their own way they helped form you, both physically and emotionally, and dictate the reasons why you choose the responses you do to the situations around you.
Now, ask yourself – Am I including enough of this in my writing? Am I showing my reader the special depths that make my character a three-dimensional, living, breathing, blood pumping? Am I slowly peeling away the layers that make my character the kind of person my reader will fall in love with, cry for and smile happily with when they reach their well-deserved, but hard-won, happy ending? Is my reader in no doubt as to why my character acts and reacts the way they do?
If you’ve answered yes, hopefully you won’t ever get that dreaded ‘emotional punch’ rejection again. Unless, of course, I’m totally wrong… in which case I’m off to peel an onion… again.
