Inspiring Authors To Stay Connected
J.K. Rowling’s was one of us. She didn’t have any special circumstances. She was a single mom who was broke and living on social assistance. She had a vision and an inner knowing and the courage to hang on to it. 12 Publishers rejected her book. A small house called Bloomsbury Press eventually agreed to publish it. But even then J.K. Rowling was told, “You’ll never make any money on children’s books.”
400,000,000 books later, she is one of the richest women in the world and all because she had the courage, despite obstacles, rejection and financial barriers to do the only work that ever matter to her which was to write. There was no light at the end of the tunnel but she did it anyway. That is taking fear by the arm and saying, “come on we’re doing this.” The world would not know Harry Potter had she listened to the voice of her critics.
She puts it eloquently in this quote. “If you’re holding out for universal popularity I’m afraid you’ll be in this cabin for a very long time.”
In Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, he describes resistance as a mysterious negative force that keeps us from doing what we came here to do. Resistance is insidious and subtle. It’s a form of self-sabotage. The battle is inside our own heads.
Years ago, when I first decided to pursue my passion for writing, I also painted the interior of my entire house, developed an odd fascination with gardening, signed my kids up for many different activities with no one but myself to drive them and did enough canning to feed a small town. Nobody eats pickled green beans do they? One day I opened my bathroom closest and stared in to it.
How did I miss this? I turned ready to bolt downstairs to fetch a great colour for the shelves and suddenly stopped. I turned around and stared at my pathetic face in the mirror and said “Get to work”. Then I went and laid down for a nap. I was losing it.
It was Barbara Sher who said “Isolation is a dream killer.” It’s pretty safe to say that writers have common traits and have their lives designed differently. We protect our flow at all costs because when it gets interrupted we have to bring it back and that’s not always easy.
Someone asked me the other day. How is the writing going? I said, “Painful, thank you for asking.” As he walked away puzzled by my remark, I smiled realizing that people just don’t get how we as writers struggle. We sometimes get lost in the pit of despair as we attempt to bring our endeavors to fruition. There are times when we need support and encouragement.
Staying connected and supported will help you get your work done. Reach out. The world is a much smaller place now. There’s a plethora of ways to stay connected. Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in are ways that many of us connect and market our work.
It’s really important that we surround ourselves with people who are life affirming and joyful. This helps build up our spirits so we can return to our work with renewed vigor. Joining groups with other writers and industry professionals is a great way to get the stay connected. You can build your network and using your book as your platform. Video conferencing from Skype, InterCall, and GoToMeeting are a great way to expand your repertoire of offerings.
Many groups use online meetings and web conferencing to share training and inspiration with people from all over the world.
As Steven Pressfield from The War of Art states, creative work is a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contributions. Give us what you’ve got.
About the author: Carrie Wynne is the author of 10 Ways to be Deliriously Happy – How to Live an Inspired Life. She conducts personal development workshops based on the principles in her book showing others how to connect to the power within themselves and develop mental strategies to create an incredible life. As a professional sales consultant she also offers training, coaching, and sales seminars. Connect with Carrie on Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn.