The Old Man of the Earth stooped over the floor of the cave, raised a huge stone from it, and left it leaning. It disclosed a great hole that went plumb-down.
"That is the way," he said.
"But there are no stairs."
"You must throw yourself in. There is no other way."
~ "The Golden Key," Dealing with the Fairies, George MacDonald
(Taken from What the Door Mouse Said, collected by Amy Gash)
Image Courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.org
Writing is like the Old Man of the Earth's hole - we must throw ourselves in if we want to get anywhere.
Well, you see what I mean. It's far easier to talk about how we want to be writers, to dream about having the perfect agent, to imagine our books at Barnes & Noble than it is to actually make it happen. But "making it happen" requires work and risk and some blind faith.
(Taken from What the Door Mouse Said, collected by Amy Gash)
Image Courtesy of www.HolyLandPhotos.orgWriting is like the Old Man of the Earth's hole - we must throw ourselves in if we want to get anywhere.
- A blank page? Throw yourself in.
- Editing? Throw yourself in.
- Querying? Throw yourself in.
- Marketing? Throw yourself in.
Today... Throw yourself in!!
50 comments:
Your last sentence is inspiring. Thanks, Shannon. I'm throwing myself in. You too, but be careful not to break anything. LOL
(Oh, my contest got moved out a week--June 9th)
Great advice - dreaming only takes one so far, you have to be willing to do the work :)
Even the greats had rejections, negative Devil voices, and bad committees. They also had angel voices. Keep talking!
I'm going to do that right now! Throw myself into editing! :)
I can't today but soon! Thank you for the reminder. ;o)
Hi Shannon -
Super advice! Thanks for giving me a swift kick. I sure needed it today.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Probably the best advice I could get today. Just started a 50k in 30 day and have been like a deer in headlights. Trying to turn off my internal editor. Thanks for the reminder to just dive in. :)
truer words, better words, wiser words were never spoken.
i couldn't agree more.
thanks love!
hope your new house is doing well!!
<333
Great advice and came just at the right time, it's like you read minds Shannon!
If only I had the energy to throw myself in every day! :) Great post.
I have the blank page hole gaping at me. And I will GET into it even if it hurts. You have inspired me! You are my favoritist blogger ever!!!
LOVE IT!
Wonderful and inspiring post!
The perfect for middle of the week blues... ;o)
Visit My Kingdom Anytime
LOVED THIS so so so much!
It's going straight into my quote book
My post is very similar today! Write big!!!!!
Okay, fine, if you insist.
*throws self at MS*
Thanks! :)
I needed this reminder today, Shannon! Thank you!
To clarify, I'm supposed to throw myself into my MS, not throw my MS, right? :-)
Dream big, but write bigger! Thanks for this, Shannon!!!
Wonderful advice! I'll adopt this mantra, and chant it often.
So true - weird how frightening it can be to throw ourselves into writing though.
Great post, especially the blind faith part. I rely on that a lot.
That I am certainly doing this week!!
Great advice.
It does seem impossible that something I've written might actually end up in a bookstore someday--but that doesn't stop me from hoping! It's always good to hear I'm not alone! Good luck writing : )
Yes, yes, yes!
So much more productive to throw yourself IN than to throw yourself OFF--the ledge. ;->
Love the delicious, mysteriouso photo you posted! Makes me want to go spelunking with fairies and other magical creatures.
Great quote #2--and so true. In my case, sometimes I need a good friend to give me a little shove if I'm standing too long at the edge afraid to jump. I guess that's what CPs are for. :)
Standing at the edge...staring at major revision...taking a deep breath...JUMP!
Thanks, Shannon, and good luck with the house :)
So true. I needed this. For sure.
Great advice. I needed this today too. :)
Hey Shannon! It's so true. Sometimes you just have to throw yourself in and do it! Excellent, excellent advice! =D
What if you've thrown yourself in, but you keep hitting the walls on your way down?
:)
Great pep talk, thanks.
Even if I can't throw myself in, I know I can keep pushing closer to the edge. Thank you for the thought-provoking metaphor!
I agree, and I love the encouragement! I've been throwing myself in to my new WIP for over a week now and not stopping to hesitate. It's the best feeling!
Great advice. Throwing yourself in is so scary, but it's doable, and sometimes a wonderful thing.
Oh, I'm throwing myself in haed first alright. Once I resublit my re-edit (self published) I'm going on one very aggressive marketing and promotional tour. I'm thinking big thoughts for 2010.
Stephen Tremp
LOVE this! I've been dabbling around submitting my ms. out to agents. I need to just throw myself into the search and have some faith.
Thanks.
Risk and faith -- what a combination!
I'm going to find the time to throw myself in my wip tonight!
You always have inspiring posts, Shannon!
I've thrown myself in and started the first chapter of my new WIP. It's exciting and scary. Great post!
Wow. Words of wisdom! Thanks for the quote. I'm going to have to remember this one.
Ouch! My head!
Ha! Just kidding! :0)
Throw yourself in... I like that! But I don't worry about the throwing in, I usually do. It's clawing my way back out again I worry about! (Ha, ha.)
Thanks, Shannon! Have a lovely day!
Perfect analogy. We won't write brave if we tiptoe around. *throws self with abandon*
Good reminder, I think I need to switch off my computer for a while and throw myself into a notebook with a pen :-)
And bring a box of band aids too! Just in case.
Wondeful advice, Shannon! We have to embrace our passion and jump in!
That's one of my favorite little chunks of wisdom from this blog.
(Do I say that every time?)
Great advice. I needed this today too. :
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This is the perfect post to print out and look at every day. Thank you!
Melissa
@imaginationsoup.net
Threw myself in from the very beginning :) no other way to do it *grin*
Mmmm... George MacDonald. I hadn't heard that one yet.
*sigh* Alright, alright, I'll take the hint. Like, every blog I've read in the past two days are all saying: You write your face off!!! So I will.
Thanks for the encouraging post :)
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