the Artist's Way - Week Nine - Day Four

U-turns

As mentioned during Day One, many artists find themselves taking U-turns in their creativity. They sabotage their chance of success for fear of failure.

Thank back at your writing and the steps you've taking so far. Have you taken a U-turn somewhere? Started a story but never finished? Refused to change something an editor wanted changing? Have you quit writing all together, because of someone else's opinion?

Name three U-turns you have taken and forgive yourself for all failures. Consider rather any of this U-turns can still be corrected. Can that unfinished novel be completed? Is the story you refused to change unpublished?

Pick one of your U-turns, retrieve it, and mend it.

Refuse to take anymore U-turns and face up to your fears. It's time to move forward and find success.

1. At a younger age, I gave up writing all together. I blamed it on time, situation, and whatever you can think of. It was fear of what others would think and of not knowing exactly how to go about getting into the field of writing. (Internet was a wonderful tool to pull me back in. Anything you need to know can be found from where you sit. Yes, it can be a distraction also, but that is where balance comes in.)

2. After I finished my first novel, I basically quit writing for the most part. I blamed it on not knowing what I was doing. I had this novel that just didn't seem to work. Looking back, I'm now aware of how much I learned from that piece of work, and that I should have dug right back in with everything learns. Instead, I bought how-to books and read. I ended up more confused than before. (This is when I began working with short stories.)

3. I attended National Novel Writing Month and created a wonderful story, but because of the rush it was a mess - scenes thrown out of place for the sake of word count, and thoughts thrown in for extra word count. The mess was so huge that the thought of weeding through it sent me yet again to the how-to books. I wasn't as confused this time, but I was still delaying the writing process and pretty much quit writing again.

Well, I didn't really think that I had U-turns but there are three.

I have begun weeding through the NANO novel, but its size continues to detour me. Baby steps must be considered here. I've also began writing again and polishing the stories that came before to send them out to market.

Have you made U-turns? Recognizing them can help you avoid the next U-turn that shows up in your path.