Okay, for those of you who don't know who Dory is, she's the little fish that helped Nemo save his dad. If you don't know who Nemo is rent the movie, "Finding Nemo."
Anyway, I think enough of us are in the same boat here (lol sometimes I'm so witty --because a dory IS a boat) to make me want to get some kind of cheerleader thing going on--- Okay here goes ---
Stop the Self Doubt, Yay Team, Push It Back, Push It Back, Way Back,
No More Recriminations, Yay Team, Take It Out, Take It Out, Way Out,
You Are A Fantastic Writer, Yay Team, Yes You Are, Yes You Are, We All Are.
Okay that was pretty pathetic but I was never a cheerleader so I don't know how but you get my drift.
We are, all of us, doing something that only we can do. Tell our own stories. I have my share of self-doubt, so do you, so does she, and so does he. The only person writing today that I think knows what the hell he's doing is Mr. Bailey, but then he is most god-like anyway. The rest of us are chumming around in the water looking for a line to grab onto to that will pull us to the surface so we can see the light of day and look into that agent's eyes (or telephone receiver) and say, "yes, I'd love a million dollar contract."
Will it happen, probably not for a million dollars, but I can dream. I think we are all swimming around in the ocean of self-doubt, fear and loathing because we can't grasp the idea that we are GOOD WRITERS.
Okay, I'm only going to say this once, (or maybe twice)
WE ARE ALL BRILLIANT do you know why? Because only WE can write our own stories. I can't write yours and you can't write mine. Oh you can suggest a bunch of things to make it better, words, phrases, semi-colons, but the only person who can write that story is you (or me - I've lost my train of thought). It's hard doing what we do. It's such a singular occupation, it's scary sitting staring at a blank screen, piece of paper, fingers poised waiting...waiting for the words to come.
And then they do. Like I said yesterday, I wrote a bunch of crap the other day. But you know what, it's MY crap. You didn't write it, you don't know what it means, you don't know what I'm going to do with it, where it's going to end up. It might not ever be Hemingway, but you know what, who cares if I'm Hem. I believe in my writing, I believe in the integrity of my story, if I didn't, I wouldn't write.
So, let's just take today and throw all our self-doubt, fear, loathing, self-pity back into the ocean and pick up the pen. No matter if we are all doing this alone, we still all swim in the school together and as Dory says,
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...."
6 comments:
Swimming. I don't think any of us, including Mr. Bailey, really know exactly what we're doing. Scott has confessed to that before, I do believe. But you know what? I know what I'm doing. So do you. So does Scott. So does Davin. We know what we're doing when we say we do and we just go do it. We all have our strong points and weaknesses. I should avoid talking about my weaknesses more. It makes them feel invulnerable.
You know what, not only am I full of self-doubt most of the time, but I consciously try to hold onto my self-doubt out of some superstitious belief that the world will attack me if I don't. But, really, over the years the self-doubt has shrunk. I'm much more confident now than I was five years ago. And, that confidence has resulted in me being more confident in other writers too. So, I think I'm moving in the right direction! :)
Yes!! So so important...just keep at it...only quitters never succeed!
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...."
A lack of self-doubt is overrated. I think self-doubt is healthy, because it stops us from biting off more than we can chew. The key is to moderate it so that it doesn't become crippling.
So, in moderation of self-doubt, I'd just like to say that we're all awesome.
Michelle - I have to remember my strong points. I know I have them, somewhere. I guess I just need to dig a little deeper.
Davin - I hope in five years I'll have enough confidence to write what I truly want to write but for now, I'll keep scratching away at my romances.
Stephanie - that is SSOOOO true. Only quitters never succeed. I'll have to frame that and hang it on my window above my computer.
Dominique -- I just love that line -- "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." And you know, WE ARE ALL AWESOME!!!
You are a great cheerleader and you are absolutely right. We do tell our own stories as only we can, and I agree that we are indeed all very awesome.
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