Motivational Monday

EVERYONE TOLD ME I HAD TO THINK POSITIVE 

WHEN I WAS WRITING MY FIRST BOOK.

IF I BELIEVED I COULD DO IT, THEN I COULD!

IF I PICTURED MYSELF PUBLISHED, THEN IT WAS

GOING TO HAPPEN!

WHICH SOUNDED GREAT, EXCEPT…

WHAT IF I WAS ALMOST TOTALLY SURE I WOULD FAIL?

I AM HERE TO TELL YOU - 

WHAT MATTERS IS STICKING WITH IT.

EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN MAKE IT

THROUGH TO THE END OF YOUR NOVEL,

JUST GET THROUGH TODAY.

THEN GET THROUGH TOMORROW.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE DAY AFTER THAT,

UNTIL IT'S TODAY.

THEN YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

(Holly Black)

Sometimes, this concept is the only thing that gets me through a bad day of bad writing. 

The days when…

- every idea I have stinks like one of those port-o-potties at the end of a long hot summer's day at the county fair.  

- every character is duller than me at a cocktail party.

- every dialogue exchange reads like a conversation between the tortoises. (Which, in case you didn't know, sounds pretty much like a rousing bout of silence punctuated by an occasional whistle or cluck. Don't ask.) 

- every word I manage to write lands on the page with an ungraceful splat like bird-doo on a car's windshield.

But that might happen on Monday. And Tuesday. But, if I keep going, Wednesday might be better. Thursday might stink again, but Friday sees those creative juices flowing, those ideas flying and landing gracefully, maybe even majestically. Same for Saturday….

Hold onto to those good days. I know you have them. I know you're all talented and creative and passionate about writing, about so many things! And those good days will get us through the bad ones. They always do.