writerslife – C.W. Spalding

Don’t Worry, But I Do

Worry. I do it a lot and maybe you do as well. My worries are that I’ll not be financially stable enough to continue pursuing writing, that I’ll have to plunge myself so hard into my job that I’ll never have enough time or energy to write a whole book as it should be written. I recently read an article about not worrying. The article was All the Good Worry Accomplishes by Cynthia Rutchi. This article did, much to my delight, give a few tips on how to overcome worry, but here today I’d like to present a few more ways to kick worry to the curb.

Challenge Your Worries

The article How to Stop Worrying on Helpguide.org has many insights about worry and how to handle it. The section that stood out to me the most, however, was about challenging worrying. I once had a working partner who saw how stressed and worried I would get when things weren’t panning out the way we’d hoped. One day she finally sat down with me and said (this is translated to English, she spoke in Portuguese):

If you can fix it, don’t worry, because there’s something you can do to change it.

If you can’t fix it, don’t worry, because there’s nothing you can do to change it.
-anonymous

There are so many things that are outside of our control and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. However, it’s important to embrace what you can change over what you cannot. What you can change is what to take action on.

But, don’t forget, you can’t write a book faster than you write a book. So, I say this to myself and others, stop stressing. You’re working hard and learning along the way. When it’s ready, it’ll be ready, and all you can do is write and edit that thing.

Not Everything Is Cause And Effect

We like answers and reason. People want to know that their lives are within their control and that if they do A and B they will get C. It gives us a sense of security to know this. However, when things don’t go our way, it leads to the sense that we’ve done something wrong and we’ve failed.

But, not everything is cause and effect.

Timing, personal preference, there are so many things that lead to success and failure, especially in an industry that focuses on the arts and human understanding. And so, we sometimes have to accept that things are not within our control.

While poking around, I have noticed on the internet that many people talk about “embracing a higher power” to overcome worry. People like a being who, makes sense of nonsense, makes good things from bad experiences, and puts order to disorder. Hey, there’s nothing shameful in needing extra help in our lives. If you are overwhelmed by anxiety and you simply can’t overcome it, perhaps there is something to be said for embracing the unknown.

There is nonsense in life, nonsense out of our control, and we have to grow comfortable with that idea before we’ll really be able to let go of worry.

Learning To Suffer Only Once

Now, I know worrying is bad! I wholeheartedly agree that worry is more trouble than good. In fact, Newt Scamander’s line in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was on the nose.

Worrying means you suffer twice.
– Newt Scamander

I agree wholeheartedly, Newt. I really do. But that doesn’t mean I know how to stop worrying! Knowing something is bad, and not doing it, are two entirely different things. If additions to harmful drugs aren’t enough to show us that, I don’t know what is. So, hopefully the suggestions in this article will help you overcome your worries and only suffer once moving forward.

What do you do to stop worrying? Drop comments in the section below to share how you beat the heat of mental pressures.

3 Writing Misconceptions

When you decide to start writing, there’s so much pressure to perform right away. Especially in an age like ours where results are meant to be immediate and visible. Well, sorry to break it to you, but only an outlier would make it like that. The norm for most people is that good old recipe of time, luck, and money. If you haven’t already, go ahead and subscribe to our page for updates; and let’s talk about 3 writing misconceptions.

You have to write every day

Flimflam. While it’s true that you do have to write consistently, for some people that does not mean they write every day. Perhaps it’s write so many pages a month or so many pages a week. As long as you have a consistent schedule, don’t worry about writing every day. Especially since so much of writing… isn’t writing. This is a huge writing misconception.

Fact or Fiction: Writing is Hard? Writing is Easy?

You’ve been hornswoggled. Some people say it’s a myth that writing is hard. Others say it’s a myth that writing is easy. Both are wrong. “Hard” and “easy” both get confused with time consuming in most cases. The more you write, the faster ideas and structures come to you. So, at first, crafting a good scene will take a very long time. However, with practice you will become more capable. And eventually you will write well. This writing misconception is a hard one to beat since it comes at you from both sides, but don’t give up. Writing really does take time; that’s not a myth. So make sure you set some hours aside for it, or things really will get out of hand.

What do you think? Do you agree that writing is more an issue of time rather than difficulty? Go ahead and add your thoughts to the comments below.

Fact or Fiction: A First Novel really is a First Novel

Delusionary diddle. In case the image didn’t tip you off, this is false. People aren’t naturally good at writing. (Well, maybe someone is… but—squints suspiciously—I doubt that.) The book you read underwent at least a couple revisions, which might have taken the writer years to complete. This misconception has agents and self-publishers crying together. Please, don’t do it. A book you hold in your hands is truly a labor of love and effort on the part of the writer and anyone that helped them along the way.

Those are just three of the common writing misconceptions common today. For additional help with writing, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is the book the industry is raving about. Check it out today and save yourself the hassle before you’re knees deep in a dirty draft.

Compartilhe isso:

Like this:

Compartilhe isso:

Like this: