You could turn and run.
Or meet it head-on…with a new sentence, then a paragraph, a page, a chapter, a book.
Seth Godin keeps his view of perfection pretty darned simple.
Here’s another take:
One thing is certain: perfection is not a blank page.
Tag Archives: Writing
Writers Horoscope for October 8: Today, you can learn your ‘why’.
Writers Horoscope for October 7: A New Voice Emerges.
Uninvited, by the way.
Yep, just when you thought you had nailed the logical soft-spoken maybe a bit uptight mid-40s professional, out comes an irascible sarcastic dope who spews about everything he knows nothing about.
Give him a day. Have a chat with him. You might even try to scare him away.
If the creep is still around, make room for him in one of your stories.
Writers Horoscope for October 6: Still unmotivated? Look inside you.
Following yesterday’s suggestions, you cleaned up your physical workspace.
It only helped a little.
Time to clean up your inner workspace.
Here’s a great start, thanks to Todd Brison’s 195 Words to Keep You Going If You Feel Down.
Highlights:
- He takes aim at ‘Comfort’ and ‘Safety’.
- He tells us to listen to our inner ‘don’t give up’ messages.
Give it a shot.
Writers Horoscope for October 5: Feeling unmotivated? Look around you.
Turns out you shouldn’t knock yourself for feeling listless…apathetic…phlegmatic. Well, you get the idea.
James Clear claims that, in many cases, our work environment influences our productivity more than our motivation.
Suggestions:
- Automate your working space to steer yourself toward good decisions. Example: Use software to block access to social media sites.
- Place meaningful, productive tools [non-wifi connected laptop] within easy reach. He calls it ‘getting in the flow’.
- Negate your unproductive influences. In other words, hide the bad food. Don’t work near the TV. Clear out the clutter, which consistently drains our focus.
Now, if you lack motivation to sharpen up your work environment, well, that’s a topic for another day. Sympathy will not be forthcoming, however.
Writers Horoscope for October 4: You find a new audience.
Hulk’s into zoology.
Boo likes martial arts.
Bear prefers self-help.
Granted, some listeners might require a little more encouragement than others.
And remember yesterday’s advice to ‘be interesting’?
You stand a really good chance with this demographic. Just give it a little time.
Writers Horoscope for October 3: Time to seek out a new skill.
Okay, you embraced that willingness to be an awkward beginner.
Bravo!
Now that the inclination is there, let’s look to something you’ve not tried yet.
Like–don’t take this personally–‘being interesting’.
Check out list item #24 in Shaunta Grimes’ 25 Habits That Will Make You a Writer.
Go be interesting!
Writers Horoscope for October 2: Your willingness is tested today.
Willingness to flail.
Willingness to fail.
Jill Badonsky, in her book The Muse Is In , calls it a willingness to be an awkward beginner.
She would be on board with yesterday’s message: Lighten up.
And keep it simple.
Shrink your goals.
Finish something…other than those cinnamon rolls you pulled out of the freezer.
Willingness to fail?
Sure.
Just don’t fail yourself.
Writers Horoscope for October 1: The message is clear: Lighten up.
Your writing might change the world.
But that’s not for you to decide.
Don’t start with the world.
Start with your world.
And with each new written word, realization, reminiscence, character, or plot twist, your world will change.
Even if just a little bit.
Writers Horoscope for September 30: You will finish a project today.
Okay, so you’re past the guilt. You’ve conquered despair. [Frankly, you were a mess this week.]
It’s time to finish something.
Yes, to you, a foreign concept.
But today’s the day.
The TV is unplugged [yes, you’re that serious], the wi-fi will soon be off, fresh coffee awaits, and you dove into the freezer for those cinnamon rolls. [Cooking takes a back seat today.]
And you’ve reached a conclusion: You don’t work well under pressure.
So you’re going to: A) Start with the smallest unfinished project first. B) Work in 15-minute increments.
Joe Bunting from thewritepractice.com prescribes small deadlines. Sounds contrary to your not working well under pressure, but…
Cut to Jon Acuff in his book Finish–“Cut your goal in half.”
Jane Porter also chimes in with solid support in her Fast Company contribution.
Final word: Go!
Word Inventions 