Self-Sabotage

Currently reading - Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson

Bob Mayer has been blogging excerpts from his book, Warrior Writer, over at Genreality.

(Sidenote: Bob will be the education speaker November 13th at the West Houston RWA meeting. See the WHRWA website for more info.)

Recently, he wrote an interesting piece on self-sabotage, on how we writers allow our fears to become our greatest enemy to our goals. That's right. It's not the agents who don't get our work, the editors who only give assignments to their friends, or the other writer who got the contract that should have been ours.

99.99% of the time, we are our own worst enemy.

Think of the times you got a request from an editor and didn't send in the manuscript. Think of the times you could have finished that short story and decided to watch American Idol instead. Think of the times you could have dropped the query in the mail or pressed 'Send' and the little voice in the back of your head said, "This sucks. They're just going to laugh at you."

No one said writing was easy (and if they did, they probably aren't writers). What's even harder is taking a flashlight to the deep, dark crevices of your psyche and figuring out what's holding you back.

I'll be perfectly blunt. My problem is fear of success. I had a mother who constantly told me I couldn't outshine other people or they wouldn't like me. I had a guidance counselor who said the problem with me was that I was too smart for my own good after I scored a near perfect score on a state aptitude test. In the farming community where I grew up, I was mocked by my peers for simply wanting to learn something besides the best combination of pig breeds to produce the leanest pork. Getting the old recordings out of my brain is even harder than the writing.

What about the rest of you? Anyone care to admit their greatest fear when it comes to writing?

When You Can't Stop Learning

Currently reading - Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Bob Mayer had an interesting post at Genreality yesterday about how beginning writers focus on the wrong things, i.e. worrying about the business side before the craft is up to snuff.

But something he he said still resonates in my head this morning. We should be reading other writers and watching other shows and movies. Pick apart the story, analyze, figure out what works and why.

He's totally correct. I've read The Da Vinci Code and the Twilight series for exactly that purpose. Quite frankly, if those books weren't so successful, I probably would not have picked them up. Dan and Stephenie must have done something to garner that kind of response from John and Jane Doe, right?

Here's my problem though. I can't stoooopppp!

Seriously, DH and I took GK to see Toy Story 3 over the Fourth of July weekend. At the post-movie restaurant, DH asked what we thought.

GK: It was good.

Me: The opening montage was a nice touch, similar to what [Pixar] did with Up. I loved the prison break-out theme in regards to the preschool. I was shocked Mattel's board didn't have a collective aneurysm over Ken running a gambling racket, but Barbie's love redeemed him at the end so I suppose the shareholders wouldn't bitch too much. I thought the black moment was a little too intense for the smaller children, but they tied the story off nicely with Andy playing with his toys one last time.

DH: OMG! You really can't just sit back and enjoy a movie anymore, can you?

Anybody else have this problem? Do we need to start a support group?

New Favorites

First of all, a lot of bloggers are listing the music they're listening to as they write their blog. Since this a blog by a writer, for a writer, about writers, let's try a different tack:

Currently reading: Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn

I've been reading Carrie & Friends blog--Genreality--for some time now. Some great folks and lots of smart advice about the publishing world. I finally waded through my TBR pile to reach Kitty and the Midnight Hour, devoured it over Christmas weekend, and promptly started buying the rest of the series. Kitty and her compatriots will be given to DH next. A former DJ himself, he's gotten a kick out of the parts I've read to him.

It's always so much fun to find new characters to love!

(It doesn't mean I don't love you, Sam. Yes, I know one of my goals for 2009 was to finish ZW. But Sam, honey, you already star in ZL and it's on submission. No, I haven't lost interest, but sometimes I need a little 'me' time. I'm not saying we need a break!)

Damn wip characters are so demanding. . .