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Notes on What I Learned Along the Way 2/2/2018 4:51:42 PM
I've been writing fiction since my early twenties and now have 13 novels available as ebooks on kindle and in paperback on Amazon's CreateSpace. Another novel is fairly well along but not ready for anyone to read. I work on it every day. I'll know when it's presentable enough to post on Amazon.
Meanwhile, since most of my writing is behind me, I've been asking myself what I learned along the way.
Decades ago, I met a friend from my days in the army and told him about writing I wanted to do. "No one can stop you," he said. He was right. No one ever overtly tried to stop me; I actually received encouragement from time to time.
Talent grows. Writers and artists learn from experience; vision expands; confidence increases.
Persistence counts. If someone says, "I'll take up writing as an experimcnt. I can always quit if it doesn't work out", that person's work is always likely to remain tentative and unsatisfying. It helps a fledgling writer if he or she says, "This is what I want. I'll figure out what I need to do and stick with it." Many blessings come to the person who commits to making the long haul and follows through.
Reading and writing every days helps to build up habits that lead a writers to their best.
What is success? I like what I've written, even though it's indie published and I haven't made much money. I wouldn't have wanted to change my focus and write what I thought would be popular simply to make money. I learned more than I can describe from earning an income out in the world.
Choose associates carefully. When we're young, we like to explore and we're strong enough to shrug off opposition. As we grow older, we appreciate uplifiting companions. Years ago, I had a playwriting teacher, who said that if criticism sticks, accept it and learn. Otherwise, let it go.
I've learned to watch myself and hold myself together. A faux pas can take a long time to recover from.
An open, upbeat frame of mind is helpful. A positive outlook can be tricky to maintain, though. We can't be simple-minded about the world. Naivete gets mocked, ignored, and crushed. Negativity and cynicism are common and can smother a creative spirit if we let them dominate our minds. We need enough of the upbeat to propel us forward.
The German savant Goethe wrote that knowledge alone hasn't much value. Knowledge should lead to action. Knowledge by itself has validity in a classroom. Most people aren't interested in how much we know. They want to see what we can do for them Therefore, since we live in the world, it behooves us to find a use for what we know. I suspect that many people are aware of this and develop creative abilities, never mind that the results are modest and local. As a result, the world is brimming with creative activity.
Spending time with other arts -- classical music, painting and sculpture, some movies, the theater -- has provded both learning and inspiration.
I came across this comment recently: "Done is better than perfect." I like that. A quietly liberating statement.
I read few novels I didn't gain something from and loved the work of the masters. I loved writing. And still do.
