Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Four Lies About Writing We Tell Ourselves

Confession: right now I'm in a bit of a slump. I'm struggling with writing consistently every day, I'm struggling with discouragement, I'm struggling with feeling like a hack.

I will also freely admit that I experience a lot of wildly fluctuating emotions, so ... this is nothing new.

But I just read this marvelous article by Susan Kaye Quinn on Four Nasty Lies We Tell Ourselves About Writing, and it was like getting a good kick in the seat of the pants. Well, in a comforting way.

It was so good I wanted to share it.

Do you ever tell yourself any of these lies? I've told myself every single one at some point.

And they are just. not. true.

7 comments:

  1. It's a great post! Very inspirational. I'm sorry to hear you've been in a slump, though. I think we all go through it. Hang in there, sweet. Have faith in your ability.

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  2. I still tell myself the first three, but I've stopped telling myself I'm not a writer because I haven't had anything published. It's a start :-)

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  3. I can certainly relate to the last lie. I do tend to define writing as published or receiving some specific recognition.

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  4. Carol: Thanks for your kind words.

    Sarah: I think that one is a HUGE hurdle to overcome (the only-a-writer-if-published one).

    Slamdunk: I really struggled with that one for a long time. I wouldn't tell people I wrote b/c I was so afraid they'd tell me I wasn't a real writer (and yeah, some people did). I think everybody struggles with this one. It's insidious! But we are writers before we're published, and writers after.

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  5. Thanks for the encouraging writer links! And I hope you find your zest for writing soon; yep, it's probably just a phase. You might just NEED a small break for inspiration and recharging your writerly batteries!

    And some cyberhugs from your bloggy friends. ((hugs))

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  6. Thanks for the shout out! I'm so glad it helped you ease out of the slump. :)

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