The stack of blank paper is yelling. Write ME! If that M. Clifford guy can do it, so can you!
What is this? Let's check the cover art. Advice on writing. Projects I'm working on and what's to come, updates, and all that jazz. Practices, like my proc...
When I was 25, I had a friend who once gave me some advice that I still remember today. Because it pissed me off! He told me I needed to be more balanced. On the surface, that doesn't seem so offensive. In fact, that's some solid life advice right there. But, for me, at that time, this was the wrong thing to say!
Well, no, actually. It was something I didn't want to hear.
I was upset with him because I was a busy student, sometimes I had to stay awake deep into the night to accomplish my projects. Sometimes I needed to skip a few things here and there to make sure my goals were reached. And, also, I'm just built differently. I'm not a balanced person! Oh, past Mike.
Time has some great power. When someone is struggling, we say:
They just need some time.
Over time, he understood.
Time heals all wounds.
Well, I often think back to that time and wonder if my friend was right. And if I had only not chosen to get offended, would I have made some better decisions in my life? Perhaps developed some routines that would be sturdy habits today? I'm still not balanced, and in a few areas of my life this has created significant problems and caused elements of each day to be challenging. However, that tendency toward an unbalanced life has produced some intensely amazing pieces of work, created beautiful memories with my family, and sometimes it's been a valued personality trait when someone I care about needs me and I drop everything to come to their aid. So, who's to say?
(Him. He was right.)
The point of this ongoing book is not to beat you over the head with advice or to tell you I know better. Even if I think I do! haha. It's just me, offering different points of view from my long journey as an author and anecdotes I've picked up along the way. Our natural human inclination is to resist unsought advice, so I go into this Wattpad book knowing my words aren't for everyone. And that, for some, my words may sting. Or piss you off. The fact that you're here on Wattpad, that you want to be a writer, shows me you have something to say as well. This is your tribe. Hit or miss, I'm going to continue revealing my journey and, in turn, encouraging you to be the best writer you can be.
Strange how much language is changing these days, usually to become more inclusive and balanced. To be less offensive to people "on the whole". This is proving to be a challenge because there's a whole lot of people with very different lives and you never know how you will be interpreted. You can attempt to control your reader's interpretation, a lot of storytelling is control. But it's a losing game if patterns continue. The democracy of the internet means more voices can express their contrary opinion. If enough people agree with that opinion, the general culture adjusts in order to find balance. Inevitably, today's lexicon and worldview *will* fall short of tomorrow's standard. Happens every generation.
So come to your keyboard with that in mind. Write what you want to write. Listen to your readers and adjust as needed. But don't start out looking to please everyone. It'll never happen.
thanks for listening
byeeeeeeee
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