I can hear it now. “Just do it” This is what I told as I tried to accomplish, not just in writing but in life in general. This came from people I asked for advice, steps, and best practices. How do I do it without falling flat on my face and not knowing why? The answer I would receive was “Just do it.”
That is how I finally handled my writing, how I finally handled my blogging. I had read books and blog posts and magazine articles that gave me pointers but never seemed to fill in the gaps. This sets people up for a fall.
There used to be a saying, “They have enough knowledge to get themselves into trouble.” There is another saying “Running off half cocked.” Both of these sayings refer to having enough knowledge to think you might be able to achieve something or do something, then once you get into the situation, realize that you weren’t even remotely prepared and you didn’t have enough knowledge to make it all the way through. It would be a similar concept to wanting to swim the English Channel and someone says “Just do it.” You would get part way out and not have enough strength to get all the way across or even to get back. Someone would have to rescue you or you would drown. Is it any wonder people get discouraged?
There were years while I was trying to learn how to write efficiently and effectively. I began to wonder if I was stupid and simply couldn’t learn what I was reading so much ‘information’ about. I actually felt this way about many things that I set my mind to; things that I would have liked to accomplish, but never could find a sources that would give me the full knowledge I needed to make a successful attempt.
It was like this when I picked up knitting and crocheting. With knitting I learned how to make scarves and washrags. I became an adept… at making rectangles and squares ad nauseam. Crocheting was better, but not by much. I learned to make granny square quilts, as well as scarves, but shaping clothes…(I had wanted to make some of those specialty clothes for myself that you can only get a hold of by spending big bucks or by making.) Yet, I could never seem to get the help I needed to make the transition from the simple through the intermediate and on to the complex.
This is how it has been though my writing and my blogging. The reason I went ahead and finished my children’s book is because I had a friend and mentor, in general life, who kept pushing me to take action even if I wasn’t prepared because if I continued to try to find the elusive information, I would never get anywhere. She had heard me get told “just do it” with no information, as well. The best she could do was say, “Try it. It’s better than nothing. I will be there to give you the moral support you need and help out where I can.”
Then, I had my book mentor who encouraged me, even though I went down a slightly different path than she did, which resulted in her area of expertise filling in different gaps than I needed filled for my own journey. She made sure she let me know that my book was important, how it was worth pursuing. The learning process… that I had to work on as I went. I have fallen on my face many times over and I have made slow progress in comparison to the time and energy I have expended. I have looked and found that there are many courses I could take. However, many of these courses cost money and there are no real descriptions as to what you will actually learn, only some vague promise that this course is the right course.
If webinars are any example of what you learn in these courses… let me put it this way. You can spend an hour on a webinar that includes a thirty minute sales pitch and gives you the same pithy information you can find almost anywhere repeated many times over during the thirty minutes that were not taken up with the sales pitch. Do we really want to loose even fifty dollars on something that was really made just to sell us something else or for us to sit and listen to or read about the creator bragging on themselves, repeat five one line tips five times, and then try to sell us another course or book? I don’t.
If you are trying to start out, you probably don’t have hundreds or even thousands of dollars to shell out for the hope that this person will finally be the one to give you the exact information you need instead of leaving the same gaps or only giving you just enough information to say “that is something new.”
With my writing, I had to simply read, and find out what I liked from different authors and what I didn’t like. Then, I had to incorporate that knowledge into my writing. That is what I am doing now with my novel writing. I am reading my favorite authors and some I just learned about and analyzing their work.
I am tired of the same worn out clichés, repeated in ‘instructionals’, things like “show, don’t tell” with very little practical application. “Write what you know.” That one is easier to apply. “Avoid passive voice.” This is a useful bit of information that I believe is used to such an extreme that authors are actually limiting themselves, especially since the older authors were able to use the passive voice with success because they do not obsess over those rules.
“Cut brutally” or words to those effects is something that has been touted so much that more modern books seem as though someone cut out anything that adds spice to the story, leaving only the stale bread of blunt statements and a pared down plot. Again, I will contrast this with older authors who were able to fill 600 page books off of one relatively simple story such as, big bad guy wants to take over the world and only a hand full of outcasts are able to stand in his way. This is not, of course, counting Tolkien who was able to fill over one thousand pages that were split into three books. I consider Tolkien to be a little excessively wordy, especially over minute descriptions. This is for another discussion and, yes, I know I am opening myself up for anger from the more hardcore Tolkien fans. This is my opinion on Tolkien’s writing despite the fact that I do like “Lord of the Rings.”
With my blog and website, with my Goodreads account as a Goodreads author, with publishing my book on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) this is how things have gone. I have had to jump in hoping the current will not sweep me away. Pinterest has been a whole other set of problems and a learning curve all in and of itself.
Do I have all the answers? Not in the least. I have no delusions of grandeur. Kudos for those who caught the “Star Wars” reference.
This blog is so that others can see that there are struggles and where, in an attempt to make sure they are forewarned. This way I hope that when they are searching for information they can know what gaps they might need to fill along their writing journey.
Another purpose is for encouragement to those who are struggling, for them to know that they are not alone, that they are not stupid, and it is not because they are not cut out for the creative path they have chosen. The information can be hard to find and other people are having the same struggle.
Later, when my web building knowledge has improved, I hope to be able to start a community on this site where authors of all skill levels can come together for the purpose of helping each other, rather than being the ‘guru’ that feeds off of the aspiring, inexperienced authors, taking from them their hard earned money for partial knowledge that is unlikely to help them reach their goals.
This last goal, however, will take time and knowledge that I must obtain. Therefore, keep coming back to this site. This community might show up one day and if any of my readers know someone who might be able to help make this community a reality, send them over.
In the meantime, the struggle is real, but people have succeeded. So, through the struggle, remember to enjoy the wonder.
If you enjoyed this post, please, share this site with others, and like this page. If you want to receive further posts directly to your email before they are posted on my site, subscribe. Feel free to leave a comment or make use of the Contact page.