the resilient writer
TRANSCRIPT
Reflections on the Writing Life & the Business of Being an Author
The
Resilient Writer
This may be the
most exciting time in
history for writers, with
more opportunities than
ever to take charge of
our destiny. Of course the
challenges are equally
impressive, which often
leaves new authors in
search of answers,
direction and a bit of
encouragement.
There is something a bit
magical about the effect a
mere string of words can
have on us. Quotations
comfort us and provide
encouragement when no
one else is around. They
are a gateway for the
dreamers; hope to the
hopeless; affirmation
to the faithful; a reminder
to the disillusioned;
and a beacon to
the wandering.
What does it really mean
to be a writer you ask?
It’s sitting down at one's
desk in the chill of the day
to write; not waiting
for the little blue flame of
inspiration to start from
the breastbone - just plain
going at it, in pain and
delight … again,
and once more, and
over and over.
~John Hersey
On being
a writer …
Oh, you’ll know you're
a writer all right … when
you shut down your
computer and get into bed,
only to think of something
that you have to write
down – right now - get
out of bed, and start
your computer up only
to get caught up in the
writing all over again.
~Author Unknown
I have never thought
of myself as a good writer.
Anyone who wants assurance
of that should read one of
my first drafts. But I'm one
of the world's great rewriters.
I don’t recall anything of
mine that's ever been
printed in less than three
drafts. You write that first
draft really to see how it's
going to come out.
~James A. Michener
Process
Over and over I feel
as if my characters know
who they are and what
happens to them, and
where they have been
and where they will go
and what they are capable
of doing but they need
me to write it down for
them because their
handwriting is so bad.
~Anne Lamott
Characters
I made the decision to
take on board the critical
feedback. Reviews are
something you can easily
ignore as a performer or
writer but I chose to not
ignore them and I think
that I benefited. I think
I'm stronger for it - and
I have a tougher skin
as a result.
~Rufus Wainwright
Reviews
Was I bitter? Absolutely!
Hurt? You bet your sweet
ass I was hurt! Who doesn’t
feel a part of their heart
break at rejection?! You
ask yourself every question
you can think of, what,
why, how come, and then
your sadness turns to anger.
That’s my favorite part.
It drives me, feeds me,
and makes one hell of
a story.
~Jennifer Salaiz
Rejection
Lord of the Flies ~ rejected 20 times
Chicken Soup for the Soul ~
rejected 134 times
Gone With the Wind
~ rejected 38 times
Jonathan Livingston Seagull ~ rejected 40 times
C.S. Lewis ~ rejected over 800 times
Rudyard Kipling From the San Francisco Examiner ‘Mr.
Kipling, but you just do not know how to
use the English language.’
Research is the elixir
that reinvigorates your
storyline, opens your
chapters, and liberates
you when you've written
yourself into a suffocating
closet. It makes you an
expert in things you
know diddley squat
about, and elevates
you from a wannabe
to an author.
~Steve Alten
Research
Of all human activities,
writing is the one for which
it is easiest to find excuses
not to begin … the desk's
too big, the desk's too
small, there's too much
noise, there's too much
quiet, it's too hot, too cold,
too early, too late, waiting
for inspiration. I have
learned over the years
to ignore them all, and
simply start.
~Robert Harris
Excuses
Writers see their
work as a form of art.
Smart writers understand
writing is also a business.
Really smart writers
also see themselves
as Entrepreneurs.
~Barry Eisler
The
business
Just to be clear …
whether or not you buy
into the value of developing
your brand as an author,
one of the best kept
secrets around is that …
for better or worse,
you already have
a brand.
~Marquita Herald
Developing
a brand
My definition of a good
editor is a woman I think
charming, who sends
me large checks, praises
my work, my physical
beauty, and my sexual
prowess, and who has
a stranglehold on the
publisher and the bank.
~John Cheever
Editors
There are millions of
other books out there
and thousands more
being published every
day. The question you
need to ask
- and keep asking –
is why should a reader
Pick yours over all
the others?
~Marquita Herald
Posit ioning
Getting a book published
does NOT equate to
readership. You must
cultivate a readership
every day of your life, and
start TODAY. Audience
development doesn’t
happen overnight. It’s a
process that continues
for as long as you want
to have a readership.
~Jane Friedman
Readership
The world has changed
and not participating in
the social media
conversation is a loud
statement of its own to
your reader base. You’ll
never completely control
your branding message
anyway because your
readers are already
talking about you online.
The best you can do is
to participate.
~Vanessa Fox
Social Media
Whatever you
may have heard, self
publishing is not a short
cut to anything - except
maybe insanity. Self
publishing, like every
other kind of publishing,
is hard work. You don’t
wake up one morning
good at it. You have to
work for that.
~Zoe Winters
Self
Publishing
There is nothing harder
to estimate than a writer's
time, nothing harder to
keep track of. There are
moments - moments of
sustained creation - when
his time is fairly valuable;
and there are hours and
hours when a writer's time
isn't worth the paper he is
not writing anything on.
~E.B. White
Time
I wish somebody had told
me for the first couple of
years there’s going to be
a gap. You make stuff, it's
just not that good. It's trying
to be good, it has potential,
but it's not. It is only by
going through a volume of
work that you’ll close the
gap. It's gonna take awhile.
It's normal to take awhile.
You just gotta fight your
way through it.
~Ira Glass
The Gap
You need three things
to become a successful
writer: talent, luck and
discipline. Discipline is
the one element of those
three things that you can
control, and so that is the
one that you have to focus
on controlling, and you
just have to hope and
trust in the other two.
~Michael Chabon
Success
Never let go of hope.
One day you will see that
it all has finally come
together. What you have
always wished for has
finally come to be. You
will look back and laugh
at what has passed and
you will ask yourself ... ‘
How did I get through
all of that?’
~Author Unknown
Hope
The Resilient Writer
Reflections on the Writing Life
& the Business of Being an Author
Resilient Living Publications
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