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Persistent writers: Editor's Notes #237 June 15, 2017 |
| Hello, Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people 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. -- Calvin Coolidge In this issue: 1. Persistent writers 2. Tickled my funnybone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 1. Persistent writers Persistent writers, like persistent artists in other fields, are those who continue over time in the face of difficulty or opposition. Time is key in persistence. Coming back to or continuing a task is at the heart of persistence, and like most things, writing projects routinely take longer than expected. Writers often set aside projects only to come back to them with renewed vigour. Other times writers simply put their heads down and grind their way through a project to its completion. Although time is necessary to reveal persistence, it is not all that is required. We are persistent only when we continue in the face of difficulty or opposition. Here I am choosing to define difficulty as something about us or our situations that holds us back even though it could not be seen as targeting us. Examples for writers could be things like dyslexia or a lack of access to help or encouragement. The world is full of such writers who persist and prevail when onlookers would not expect them to do so. Another call to persistence comes from opposition, which I am here choosing to call events directed at us with an eye to stopping us from continuing on our course. Into this category I put rejection letters from publishers and misunderstandings or jealousies from others in our lives. It can be unbearably discouraging to be told that you are not good enough or that your writing is not worthy. Imagine having music filling you to bursting on the inside, but being deaf. Beethoven did not let his deafness stand in the way of his composing. Imagine receiving endless rejections for your novel, only to dust yourself off to submit it elsewhere. That was the story of J.K. Rowling who wrote the Harry Potter series. When we use our time to overcome our difficulties and opposition, we can be called persistent writers. =========== 2.Tickled my funnybone What does a clock do when it's hungry? Goes back four seconds. =========== 3. Interesting Web site Take courage from these persistent people who triumphed in spite of difficulty and opposition. http://www.biographyonline.net/people/overcame-difficult-odds.html =========== 4. Writing prompt Write about a difficulty or opposition you have faced. Give it all the power you can imagine. Then imagine and write a scenario where you triumph. =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html |
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