Last week I was at a writer’s meeting and the host said that he did his first book for the purpose of learning the process of self-publishing. And he said something about making room for mistakes. In that moment I realized that is my greatest fear in regards to my writing life is making mistakes.
In the chaos that is today’s publishing scene there is no clear path. Everyone has their method. Everyone has an opinion to be sure. An aspiring writer could read hundreds of blogs and buy several dozen books on how to navigate the ever changing landscape. For as many “how to” blogs available there are just as many war/horror stories about mistakes people have made. So what is a writer to do?
Ray Bradbury said it best, “There is no failure unless one stops.”
As far as I’m concerned, I have no other option. I must move forward and I will stumble and trip, lose money better spent on other things but I’m okay with that. It’s part of the process. Making mistakes sucks. And you feel like an idiot afterwards. Some mistakes are devastating too, and it will take a while to get back track.
In that same moment, back in paragraph one, I also felt a tremendous amount of freedom. It’s okay to make mistakes. We’re all just trying to figure it out. So a few things I offer on the matter of mistakes:
1 –Be sure you are meeting with other writers of all types, ages, genres, and levels. I have never regretted meeting another group of writer’s, I always walk away with something valuable. Most writers I know are willing to share their mistakes so you avoid the same. Also, you get to learn where not to waste your time.
2 – Paste the quote below where you can see it every time you sit down to create.
3 – After having read it, take a deep breath and do something fantastic.
In the chaos that is today’s publishing scene there is no clear path. Everyone has their method. Everyone has an opinion to be sure. An aspiring writer could read hundreds of blogs and buy several dozen books on how to navigate the ever changing landscape. For as many “how to” blogs available there are just as many war/horror stories about mistakes people have made. So what is a writer to do?
Ray Bradbury said it best, “There is no failure unless one stops.”
As far as I’m concerned, I have no other option. I must move forward and I will stumble and trip, lose money better spent on other things but I’m okay with that. It’s part of the process. Making mistakes sucks. And you feel like an idiot afterwards. Some mistakes are devastating too, and it will take a while to get back track.
In that same moment, back in paragraph one, I also felt a tremendous amount of freedom. It’s okay to make mistakes. We’re all just trying to figure it out. So a few things I offer on the matter of mistakes:
1 –Be sure you are meeting with other writers of all types, ages, genres, and levels. I have never regretted meeting another group of writer’s, I always walk away with something valuable. Most writers I know are willing to share their mistakes so you avoid the same. Also, you get to learn where not to waste your time.
2 – Paste the quote below where you can see it every time you sit down to create.
3 – After having read it, take a deep breath and do something fantastic.
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