Giving Yourself Permission to Suuuuuuuuuck.....

I've given a writer friend a few pep talks lately. They weren't anything too dramatic, just a bit of:
---it's okay to ignore your internal editor for awhile.
---it's natural to feel like everything you write is horrible.
---it's fine to have bad days.

Most were directed toward his insecurities, which, not surprisingly, mirrored my own. And, since those conversations, I've taken some time to reflect on what we talked about, musing on just who I was trying to pump up more-- him or me.

There's something about trying to encourage someone else that makes inspiring thoughts stick with oneself. It's like, you've taken in all this information meant to promote your own thoughts of well-being and creativity, but it isn't until you've tried passing on the digested motivation that the wisdom finally sticks.

And, there's a lot of motivation out there, some inspiring, some ass-kicking, some even intended to make you buck-up (because how could you let yourself be so pathetic). It depends on the motivation you respond to--

"You can't edit a blank page."
"You can't write your first sentence until you've written your last sentence."
"Words don't bleed, cut them."
"You have to kill your darlings."

All great quotes for making you put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard. But, in the last few months, I've started taking those --- Get your words down so you can create your masterpiece--- ideas and have moved one step farther to --- Get everything down, including the crap that makes you cringe--- perhaps, especially the crap that makes you cringe.

I've come to the realization that, over the years, I've wasted hours/days of valuable writing time (and subsequently, thousands of valuable words) stuck in the dreadful every-word-must-be-perfect-before-I-can-start-a-new-sentence loop. It's perhaps the most crippling position a writer can be in, even the agony of not writing for days is far more bearable than the state of paralyzed panic that comes with the expectation that EVERY word must be perfect.

So, I'm endeavoring to put a stop, or at least some restraining force, to the amount of time I spend agonizing during the first draft of anything.

And, I've decided to lead my writing sessions with a mongrel version of Faulkner's killing your darlings quote--- There's no point in prettying up your darlings first thing in morning, if you're just gonna kill 'em that night...

.... that is, unless you're one of those "special" killers who need the scene staged perfectly and everyone's clothes freshly laundered----but, that's something for another blog-post entirely.

So, perhaps, I can let go of the idea that every sentence spewed has to be insightful...and every thought I have, Pulitzer-worthy. It's enough that I actually have the thoughts. Everything else will come with time. Right?

L is for Loch Ness Monster....

With Kelpie, for my 'K' entry, still fresh, I thought it'd be fun to stick to the water for a bit. So, while we're in the realm of Celtic water creatures, why not visit with the most famous and widely known of aquatic beasties---- the Loch Ness Monster. Though, Nessie, sort of skirts the line of supernatural creature as it is purported by many to be a cryptid, a creature whose existence has yet to be identified by the scientific community. Those who believe Nessie an unidentified animal, have speculated that it is from the line of Plesiosaurs, while the scientific community claims it's just a modern-day myth, or at the very worst--- a hoax. I've included the Loch Ness Monster as part of my Supernatural theme because, like Bigfoot, there's an, albeit EXTREMELY, remote chance that it's real, but, like ghosts, I won't believe it until I see it myself----- I'm a card-carrying skeptic, but, I can enjoy a smidgen of the illogical now-and-again-...

K is for Kelpie.....

Today's entry is dedicated to my wonderful social club pledge sister, who sent me off from our college sanctuary with a copy of "Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales", containing an inscription that the "magic and mischief of the Kelpie follow me".... She knew I had an affinity for water and for mischief...and for all-things Celtic--so the Kelpie seemed to suit---- though, I'm not quite as savage as many folktales paint Kelpies. Kelpies are Celtic water horses, believed to haunt the lochs and rivers of Scotland and Ireland. The Kelpie was known to appear as a "lost pony", though, its identity is given away by its constantly dripping mane. Most stories give the color of the Kelpie's coat as black, though there are a few that mention the color white. The texture of the Kelpie's skin is likened to the smoothness of a seal, but its temperature is "cold as death to the touch." Like many other tales of supernatural creatures, the Kelpie...

A to Z reflections....

Another A to Z challenge comes to an end--- another collection of posts and poetry have been written, another deep breath of relief is released. For my fellow bloggers that survived as well, it's another 'challenge-completed' notch carved into the writing desk. I've come to enjoy my yearly foray into the world of all things alphabetical. This was my third year, though it was only the second year I had a workable theme (which made the challenge substantially easier than the first year I attempted this challenge.) And, though my first year was difficult because my focus was so scattered, I found this year was more difficult because I lost the enthusiasm that came with the first year excitement----excitement which helped me plug along until the end of the challenge. Year 3 was a success in the sense that I completed the challenge, though, this was the year that almost wasn't---- Somewhere about a third of the way through the challenge, I seriously considered...

From the Inkwell, From the Vein.....

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