Discouragement. Doubt. Self-rejecting.
These are the dragons writers must continually slay. It is not sufficient to leash them, they must be slain. At their deaths, you fuel your pen.
Do not reason with discouragement.
Do not listen to doubt.
Do not think so little of your imagination that you will not entertain or humor it.
Slay the dragons.
And dispatch them without mercy.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
The WIP.
Work in Progress.
The thing about about a WIP, any WIP, is that it will take time. You have to understand that writing is done in *3 parts:
1.) Inspiration
2.) Researching/Development
3.) Producing
The writing is both art and process. Do not shy away from the process. The process is where all the good stuff is; get to the good stuff.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
*Look for this as a miniseries. Soon.
As this year speeds to a close, I leave you with one thing: belief in self.
The path is of the arts is fraught with doubts. Filled with second-guessing and the evil, diabolical non support of the people who say they love you.
But, what I want to tell you with 7 calendar days left of this year is stop listening to that does not serve, assist, value or help.
Stop feeding that which hurts.
This is so often the most difficult thing! That type of thinking hobbles, cripples and will kill anything creative—or different in you! I have had to discover this in my own self this week. My creative achievements are not based on the opinions of other people. My success is not determined by what other people think about it. There will always be a salty-select to remind you of failures, setbacks and other useless shenanigans.
Stop feeding what hurts.
Make the decision to give up the things which weigh you down–and soar.
You have world to conquer.
Being a writer means you will/may always have questions. The toughest ones to answer always involve The Why.
Why do you write?
Why aren’t you writing?
Why are you afraid to write?
Regardless of genre, or length of project, you will have to answer these questions.
Sometimes once during the course of a work, sometimes repeatedly in the course of a day!
But they must be answered.
Moreover, they must be answered by you.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
The end of the month—end of the year!—is in a matter of weeks.
To that observation, I leave you with this question:
What if you believed you could do it?
I mean it, what would happen you believed you could write the work you set out to create—independent of other people’s opinions or support?
Only you can answer this. And should do so immediately.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
There is a rhyme and reason to creativity; this thrusting of magic and letters and colors to make the world better.
Not everyone can do it!
There are people in the world that desire such creativity, and are devoid of it. They copy it, and never have one original thought. But you, dear one? You, my fellow oracles/writers/storytellers, there are worlds inside of you.
Universes.
Peoples.
Languages.
Lovers.
The doubts are to be acknowledged and released–never held or kept. If they are kept, they become weights and anchors.
Be brave, dear ones.
Write.
There are so many people that go through this life and never leave a record. Don’t be one of those people.
If you call yourself a writer, part of that job is to leave record of thought or moments.
Don’t fear that title. Don’t fear that responsibility. Don’t fear the words or what you will make them say.
You can do it.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
