Live To Write Another Day by Dean Orion (books to read in your 20s female .txt) 📗

that I really do see the writing life as something you have no choice but to pursue if you have the writer gene, and that it’s an epic struggle in which you must be a warrior of the highest order, the hero of your own story.

You owe it to yourself to be that hero, to honor that calling each and every day, regardless of your circumstances, regardless of your previous successes or failures, regardless of whether the journey takes you into calm seas or into the most violent of storms.

You may not share all my feelings about writing or see eye to eye with me on everything in this survival guide, but if nothing else, I hope I have at least given you a little inspiration and created yet another bond within our sacred tribe. You have my utmost respect for being a writer, for having the fortitude to bear your soul on the page day after day, for taking the chance that you may never be able to make that idea work—or that even when you do, that story may never quite get its fair day in court with the many gatekeepers who never seem to miss an opportunity to deny you the key to the city.

I know how difficult it is to do what you’re trying to do, how much of yourself it requires, how agonizing it is when all that effort fails to bear any fruit, either artistically or financially. And, boy, do I know how hard it is to pick yourself up off the canvas for the umpteenth time, to draw your sword and take another swing at that monstrous creature…again and again and again.

All I can say is:

Don’t stop swinging! Don’t stop taking those chances, because it’s out of all that vulnerability, out of all that risk taking, that the most profound work inevitably emerges.

No great script was ever written by a writer playing it safe. So whatever you do, never be afraid to sail into those uncharted waters. Never be afraid to go down with the ship. There’s not a writer on this earth who hasn’t come up short on what they once thought was the most brilliant idea, so you won’t be the first and you certainly won’t be the last. It’s on the rubble of those discarded pages that the foundation of your career will ultimately be built, and not one of your successes will come without the many failings that came before it. Not that success is ever guaranteed, but if you have the courage to go on this journey in the first place, then I believe you’ll have the courage to see it through, and there will never be a doubt in your mind as to whether or not you were up to the challenge.

Just know that your voice is worthy of being heard, that the fight to make it heard is never in vain, and that if you stay true to that voice, if you commit to developing your skills and continue to hone and love your process, if you always remember that the story is out there in its purest and most perfect form, that it exists separately from you, and that you are both its mother and its guardian, your work will always be consistent and unique to who you are.

Most importantly, if you can learn how to share your story with the common culture, to let it be influenced but not misguided, to change and revise it in ways that not only deepen its characters and shore up its structure, but also magnify its core message, then there are no limits to the writer you can become.

All you have to do is hang in there a little longer, tune that story in a little clearer, and live to write another day.

SURVIVAL GUIDE SUMMARY

15. Live to Write Another Day

 

Things to Remember:

 

•As creative storytellers, we are the cultural record keepers of our generation.

•Be the hero of your own story. Never give up!

•Don’t be afraid to fail. No great story was ever written by a writer playing it safe.

•Your voice is worthy of being heard, and the fight to make it heard is never in vain.

COMPLETE SURVIVAL GUIDE

1. The Writer Gene

Things to Remember:

 

•If you’re a person who is driven to tell stories with words, then you have the writer gene.

•Guess what—you’re not alone.

2. The Art of Procrastination

 

Things to Remember:

•Procrastination is part of the creative process.

•Procrastination is only bad if you create anxiety about procrastinating. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Use it.

•You are both a passive and active channel of information when you write.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

•What procrastination activities contribute to your process? Make a list.

•What procrastination activities are destructive to your process? Make a list.

•How much procrastination time will you allow yourself when you sit down to write? Be specific.

3. The Write Environment

Things to Remember:

•To be productive on a regular basis, find environments that are consistently available to you.

•Make sure these environments have limited distractions and temptations. All you really need is a desk, a chair, and a power outlet.

•If an environment works for you, keep using it! It won’t take long for you to associate it with successful writing, which will help build your confidence.

•A change of scenery sometimes helps the creative flow.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

 

•Which parts of your process can you do in a noisier environment, and which require absolute quietude? Make a list.

•Of the different environments available to you, which can you work in on a consistent basis? Can you make each of them a reliable writing silo?

•What are the available hours of each of your writing silos? Make a list.

•How many hours on any given day do you need to spend in each silo to be productive? Plan it out ahead of time.

•Is there a place near you where other writers write? It’s always good to be around other writers.

4. Writer’s Bl%#k

Things to Remember:

 

•Writer’s bl%#k is a myth. Every creative problem has a creative solution.

•All writers experience crisis moments.

•Knowing that the