Originally posted on 3/7/10 for the
Charge of the Write Brigade.
What is your anthem?
As writers we thirst for inspiration. We sail the ocean of procrastination and distraction. The far off shores of creative thought and completed manuscripts or at least chapters seem so far over the horizon that we wonder if we’ll ever get there.
Life gets in our way. Sometimes we need something to spark our juices. I’ve already written about how music can inspire a writer. I won’t go into length about it now.
I do want to share with you some of the songs that set my writer’s brain on fire. I’m not talking about what songs or music styles inspire certain ideas or stories. I’m speaking of those songs that remind me that this dream is reachable. That despite all the things I can never seem to learn and apply, all those rejections that pile up, these songs make me stand up and forge ahead with the dream.
At least three songs come to mind.
Go the Distance by Michael Bolton
Created for the Disney movie Hercules, this song represented young Herc’s longing to be something more. He sensed within himself the ability to take his talents and do something important with them.
Whenever I hear this I feel it too. I don’t think of glory or fame. I don’t give a crap for those. Instead I think of the joy my stories bring to others. I think of how they can make kids dream and wish for things in life. I think that maybe one day, beyond this mountain of rejections, one day there will be a line of kids and adults wanted to discover Ann and Roland’s latest adventure. That one day I can get these stories out there into the world.
Someone’s Watching Over Me by Hilary Duff
In the movie Raise Your Voice, Duff plays a girl who wants so bad to sing. The problem is her father won’t let her spread her wings. Well, her older brother (played by John Ritter’s son) always believes in her. Without her knowledge, he sends out her application to the music school she wanted to attend. He dies shortly afterward and she discovers what he did later on.
The ballad is soft and reaches out. It reminds me of the doubts and fears that always cloud my mind. It also makes me think of my dream. It causes me to reach for the impossible. I think of how important this dream is. How the fears and impossibilities aren’t important. I refocus my mind and sit up straight. I can do this. I can achieve my dreams.
The Climb by Miley Cyrus
This is the new kid on the block for my personal anthems. It’s currently my favorite. Created for her movie to represent the character’s feelings about failure and hope, I resisted it at first. I have four children who practically live on Disney Channel so I tend to get sick of their TV offerings.
I couldn’t resist it though. I hear the quiet beginning and soft words and my mind travels to the same doubts I mentioned before. I think of the hard reviews and tough decisions I’ve made. Stephen King said you have to kill your babies and I’ve got so much blood on my hands. But it’s not the end of the journey I should focus on. It’s the actual path I’m taking. Each rung of this latter is important. Am I scared of what my editor is going to say? Yes! But I need those bad reviews. I have to fall again and again if necessary to learn how to walk. I can’t become a author unless I learn how to write.
So there you go. Three anthems that make me believe in my abilities. What are yours and what effect do they have on you?
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, November 15, 2010
Workin’ It Out
Originally posted on 9/20/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.
The other day I found myself alone on my day off. This is very rare in the Roberts household, I can assure you. We have in our home seven pets. We’ve got three dogs, three cats and one quiet rabbit. I decided that a morning alone was the perfect time to clean the rabbit’s cage.
Now to properly do this task, I needed to tie the bunny to the fence so she didn’t escape into unknown dangers abroad. Then I would take the cage to the curb to hose and scrub it clean. Yes, it was a vile job but the underlings (children) were at school.
The challenge wasn’t the hosing process. No, the true challenge of that morning had nothing to do with Hazel’s abode. We recently added to our six pets. We gained a new, annoying, puppy (hence the count of seven animals).Yes, we’re outnumbered.
While the other animals have enough knowledge to stay out of the street in most situations, Lily the pup didn’t. So while I lean over the curb, washing the cage, she wanted to run pass me into the street.
I couldn’t have that so I had to put her on the dog-run. Now I should mention that the difference between a relaxed adult rabbit and a nervous puppy is that one is content to party in the family garden near the fence (whoops!) while the other makes more ear-splitting noise than a cat in a washing machine.
The cleaning process isn’t very long. She would remain tied for perhaps ten minutes. If you happened to be strolling up my street at that moment, you would have sworn I was beating the puppy within an inch of her life. She whined and tugged at the strap with desperation.
If she could’ve understood that at after a short ten minutes she’d be frolicking in the house, terrorizing the cats or chewing on something important, she wouldn’t whine. It should be noted that when it comes to waiting for things, there is a strange chrono- spatial warp present. If you are the one waiting, ten minutes becomes an hour. This warp elongates with time. If you’re a writer waiting on that expected rejection letter, it could take years (months).
We whine too. I’m a big whiner. Ask my friends and family. They have stood by me during this whole writing dream and they’ve suffered with my frustrations. I’m tied to a fence, waiting (i.e. editing, revising, submitting and then start all over after enough ample servings of rejection). One day I’ll be chasing cats in the air-conditioned living room (published). Sure, it wont be Heaven. Everything I read informs me of all the challenges a published author goes through, but where I sit it would be better than wondering if I’ll ever get there.
Instead of whining about rejections and further revisions, wondering if we’ll ever be published, we could work on other books, send more queries, revise yet again and improve our web platforms.
If we could look at our situation from an outsider’s point of view from the future, we might learn that yes, we did get that agent and publishing contract. Unfortunately we can’t. We have to struggle and learn the hard way. And by doing that, we learn the things we need for that future time. Patience and faith. They’re hard to comprehend sometimes, but it’s worth it.
The other day I found myself alone on my day off. This is very rare in the Roberts household, I can assure you. We have in our home seven pets. We’ve got three dogs, three cats and one quiet rabbit. I decided that a morning alone was the perfect time to clean the rabbit’s cage.
Now to properly do this task, I needed to tie the bunny to the fence so she didn’t escape into unknown dangers abroad. Then I would take the cage to the curb to hose and scrub it clean. Yes, it was a vile job but the underlings (children) were at school.
The challenge wasn’t the hosing process. No, the true challenge of that morning had nothing to do with Hazel’s abode. We recently added to our six pets. We gained a new, annoying, puppy (hence the count of seven animals).Yes, we’re outnumbered.
While the other animals have enough knowledge to stay out of the street in most situations, Lily the pup didn’t. So while I lean over the curb, washing the cage, she wanted to run pass me into the street.
I couldn’t have that so I had to put her on the dog-run. Now I should mention that the difference between a relaxed adult rabbit and a nervous puppy is that one is content to party in the family garden near the fence (whoops!) while the other makes more ear-splitting noise than a cat in a washing machine.
The cleaning process isn’t very long. She would remain tied for perhaps ten minutes. If you happened to be strolling up my street at that moment, you would have sworn I was beating the puppy within an inch of her life. She whined and tugged at the strap with desperation.
If she could’ve understood that at after a short ten minutes she’d be frolicking in the house, terrorizing the cats or chewing on something important, she wouldn’t whine. It should be noted that when it comes to waiting for things, there is a strange chrono- spatial warp present. If you are the one waiting, ten minutes becomes an hour. This warp elongates with time. If you’re a writer waiting on that expected rejection letter, it could take years (months).
We whine too. I’m a big whiner. Ask my friends and family. They have stood by me during this whole writing dream and they’ve suffered with my frustrations. I’m tied to a fence, waiting (i.e. editing, revising, submitting and then start all over after enough ample servings of rejection). One day I’ll be chasing cats in the air-conditioned living room (published). Sure, it wont be Heaven. Everything I read informs me of all the challenges a published author goes through, but where I sit it would be better than wondering if I’ll ever get there.
Instead of whining about rejections and further revisions, wondering if we’ll ever be published, we could work on other books, send more queries, revise yet again and improve our web platforms.
If we could look at our situation from an outsider’s point of view from the future, we might learn that yes, we did get that agent and publishing contract. Unfortunately we can’t. We have to struggle and learn the hard way. And by doing that, we learn the things we need for that future time. Patience and faith. They’re hard to comprehend sometimes, but it’s worth it.
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