Friday, April 5, 2013

Day 89 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author, Dane F. Baylis
 

THERE IS NO GAIN WITHOUT PAIN

OR

Whoever Said This WASN'T Work?

 
There you are, you just put fresh ink cartridges in, you bought a couple of thumb drives (maybe even an external hard drive dedicated to your creative endeavor), and stocked up on a good, heavy weight, bright white paper. So what's next?
 
While you think that over you go get a cup of coffee. On the way back to your desk you stop to water some plants. Oh yeah, you forgot to return your mom's/sister's/girl or boy friend's phone call! It'll only take a minute. Maybe a snack to tide you over. Then there's your Twitter/Facebook/Google + feeds binging away on your phone. Perhaps a walk will stir your juices? Well. you've got all the stuff. You can pick it up tomorrow. If you could just get inspired!
 
If this sounds remotely familiar may I offer the wisdom of one of the greats? It was Ernest Hemingway who said, "There is nothing to writing. You just sit down at a typewriter everyday and bleed." The key part is the sitting down. If your butt's not in the chair, you get nothing done. End of story. There's a world of distractions just waiting to seize your attention and hide it someplace you'll never find it. The ONLY way to avoid this is to get to work. You have to literally tell yourself, this is my job, I AM A WRITER and that's what writers do, write.
 
Steven King says the most important tool you should have is BUTT GLUE. What's that? The simple discipline to sit in your chair and work. Let's get over the silly delusion that this is somehow a magical process full of glamour and light, airy background music. (Mine is more like a slightly out of tune barrel house piano. Go figure, huh?)
 
But Dane, you say, the inspiration's just not upon me. Yup, get over it. The muse is a slut and he/she/it is out running around with a certain magic and fantasy writer who shall remain unnamed. You got stuck with that nagging inner voice asking, "Maybe I can get my office assistant job back?" Or...You can just face it, this is NOT about inspiration. This is about writing a ton of crap and then going through it with a coke, uh, teaspoon looking for the diamond. That gem may be no more than a catchy phrase or location but, if you're lucky, it's an entire sentence. Lord be praised if it comes out to a paragraph or page!
 
Writers write. Right? They sure do. Then they rewrite and rewrite and rewrite and spend incredible percentages of any advances they receive on therapists, who will immediately slay your demons and ruin your writing career. Rewrites = GOOD...Therapy = NOT SO MUCH! Except for you people out there with the voices talking to you about going back to office work. You guys need an industrial strength shrinking.
 
I've said it before but it's worth repeating. The  ONLY place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Unfortunately, it falls between shit and syphilis. So slap on some butt glue, put your tush on the cushion, and write something! You'll become a writer one word at a time.
 
Remember...live, love, write.
 
 Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.
 
 
Until tomorrow,
 
 
Dane F. Baylis, Author.

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