Friday, August 7, 2009

Protect the Work, Nurture Your Soul

Friday, August 7, 2009

On a personal SIS note... Today is our brother, Bob's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBY!!! And many, many, many more!


Now, on to my featured post.


A couple of weeks ago I posted a few phrases I’d heard in various workshops at the RWA Conference. I asked SIS readers what they thought those phrases meant. I enjoyed your thoughts and many of you echoed what I had heard from the conference speakers. Today I’m going to share what I learned as well as a few personal observations.

NYT bestselling author (and a fave writer of mine), Susan Elizabeth Phillips conducted an informal and candid discussion with published authors. I was surprised that only twenty or so people showed. Ms. Phillips was fascinating, funny, and extremely insightful. One of the many topics she covered was: PROTECT THE WORK. This actually entailed a variety of things. Essentially, it means: Do whatever you have to do to enable yourself to write, to create, to finish the dang book.

*If reading bad reviews pummel your self-confidence, if they depress you to the point of hindering your ability to write…. then don’t read your reviews.

*If reading blogs or judging contests or critiquing work or social networking (you get the picture) cuts fiercely into your ‘writing time’.... cut back or cut them out.

*If discussion boards or blogs upset or infuriate you, if they incite negativity or cynicism artistically or professionally… don’t read them. And certainly don’t participate.

I’m sure she offered more examples, but these were a few that really resonated with me.

Agent Stephen Axelrod and author, Julia Anne Long spearheaded a nitty gritty workshop entitled: Why Publishing is Making You Crazy—and What You Can Do About It: The Tao of Publishing.


As it happens, you can read the bulk of this invaluable lecture on Ms. Long’s blog. Click here and scroll up to the beginning of the 12/1/08 post of the same title. You won’t regret it!

A few phrases that impressed me were…

"Give up what brings you anxiety and you will have better control."

"The more you try to make sense of it, the further you are from the truth."

"Stay in the moment.... Go with the flow.... and when something bad happens, rise above."

Again, please visit Ms. Long’s blog for the in-depth and fabulous break down of these phrases. But in short, what I learned, or rather what was finally drilled into my head is that there's simply a boatload of issues that are OUT OF MY CONTROL. Obsessing over my Amazon or Barnes and Noble rankings or my overall sales numbers or on how much advertising support I got from my publisher won’t alter where I am in my career. Spending enormous energy and time, and what little I can afford on self promo, probably won’t boost my sales. So much of the business aspect of writing is OUT OF MY CONTROL. Why waste precious time and energy worrying about it?

Bottom line, the only thing that is absolutely within my power is writing the best story I can possibly write. And the more prolific I am, the better. Which brings us back to: PROTECT THE WORK.

Over the past couple of years, I became so caught up in what I couldn’t control, that I lost my joy of writing. The pressure to succeed, to meet and even exceed expectations—mine and those of my publishers—became crushing. Coupled with the fact that I also work a full time day job, this was beyond my mental and physical capabilities. I wanted to do it all. I thought I was Superwoman. But I’m not.

Attending these workshops, absorbing the wisdom offered... freed me. I am consciously letting go of what I cannot control. I am reexamining my goals, my artistic and monetary wants and needs. I am nurturing my soul. And little by little, I am rediscovering the joy of writing. The joy of living is a work in progress, but I’ll get there.

I do believe that these principles apply to all facets of life, not just writing. I hope this post somehow resonates with you.


Whether you're a writer, musician, sculpter, teacher, accountant, stay-at-home mom... What can you do to protect your work? To nurture your soul? I'd love to hear your take.

SIS Beth

19 comments:

Shiloh Walker said...

Excellent advice. Very, very excellent.

One thing I try to keep in mind-I can't please everybody. If I try, I just make myself more insane.

Brooks C. said...

Spot on! It does apply to all facets of life.

While working toward improving my guitar technique, I've noticed that I have a tendency to get discouraged when listening to quitarists who's fingers really fly on the fretboard. So, I set my goal to something more realistic, like quality and feeling rather than speed. And select music "I" enjoy instead of something to impress others.

Richard said...

Now that we have the "real" explanation;), I agree --- great words. In fact, great words and an ideal that should allow for the substitution of the last word in a number of cases: Protect The Family; ... Friends; ...Health; etc. And, in turn, placing the concept to all things, then protecting the WORK becomes MUCH easier!

~Sia McKye~ said...

Beth, taking a break from a yard full of contractor's crews. Nice view, but a pain in the A$$ to have to be running back and forth every 20 minutes or so.

What a nice article to read and feel reshreshed after reading. How right you are, the joy, the spark is so hard to maintain. An coming to the realization of what you can and can not control. Hard lesson.
"Do whatever you have to do to enable yourself to write, to create, to finish the dang book."

"Give up what brings you anxiety and you will have better control."

"Stay in the moment.... Go with the flow.... and when something bad happens, rise above."

These resonated with me. Short phrases with serious impact when you really think about them.

Thanks for the link to Ms. Long's blog article. I'll check it out this evening. Sounds like something I need.

I may not have said it, but Sis Sync always gives me food for thought. You lady guys do a great job here!

Once sanity is restored in my life, um when all the repairs are done, I'll be able to stop by more frequently. I'm looking so forward to that time. :-)

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Hi, Shiloh. Thanks for stopping by and WOW, you are so right. That is one of the biggest things I need to wok on...you can't please everybody!

SIS Barb

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Brooks,

Loved that. We should stop trying to impress others and work on impressing ourselves and being the best we can be at whatever we choose to do.

SIS Barb

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Shiloh,

So nice to see you here. Thank you for stopping by and also for your comment. You are so right. You/me/we can't please everyone... as much as we'd like to! Better to let that one go. Sort of goes along with... Everything's subjective. And to each his own.

SIS Beth

Taylor said...

Beth, great words of wisdom! Reading this post makes me happy to know you've renewed your passion for writing again. Knowing how bogged down deadlines and everything else becomes, I'm happy to hear you're excited to be writing again!!

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Sia,

Good luck with the contractors!! We are happy to have you any time you can stop by. I'm thrilled that you enjoy our posts. I enjoy yours as well and stop by as often as I can. I love reading the views of all the different writers you have.

Have a great one and enjoy the view!
SIS Barb

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Hi Richard,

You're right. We can and should substitute the last word. In fact we should PROTECT WARM FOOD at all costs!!!! LOL

SIS Barb

B.J. said...

Hi Beth, I am so happy that you found the joy in writing again because you are such a wonderful writer. I Can't wait to see you next week!

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Brooks,

How fabulous that you are pursuing your love of guitar. Not comparing yourself to others who are beyond your current ability just now is vital. Even after we've developed a certain level of skill in our art--comparing is a dangerous road to travel. When I was singing for a living, I had to accept that I had a moderate range and a style more suited to pop or country. As much as I loved singing songs by Aretha Franklin or Barabra Streisand, I simply lacked the range and chops. However, that didn't mean I didn't have something special to offer. *g*

Hang in there! I look forward to hearing you play at our next Christmas party!

SIS Beth

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Richard said... "Protect The Family; ... Friends; ...Health"

Amen to that!

SIS Beth

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Sia, I'm so glad that I was able to pas along words of wisdom that inspired yu just as they inspired me. Let's reclaim the spark!

Thank you for your kind words pertaining to SIS. Coming from someone who manages an impressive blog such as yours, that means a lot!

SIS Beth

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Taylor, as you have to put up with me daily, I'm thrilled that not to be such a gloomy gus for once. Thank you for sharing in my joy!

SIS Beth

Sisters-in-Sync said...

BJ.... Thank you!!! And I can't wait to see you, too!

Barb... I won't tell you what I had for breakfast. *g*

SIS Beth

Olga said...

Beth, thank you so much for all this info! The workshops sound amazing! As for advice, it's so true. One of the most important things in life that I've learned is to try to be happy with what one's got and find silver lining in anything possible.

Sisters-in-Sync said...

Olga said... "I've learned is to try to be happy with what one's got and find silver lining in anything possible."

This is a fabulous attitude, Olga. It's not to say that we can't shoot for big goals and dreams--those things help to keep us motivated--but I do believe it is much healthier to find joy 'in the moment'.

SIS Beth

Olga said...

Thanks, Beth. And I totally forgot, Happy Belated Birthday to Bob!

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