on Writers in the Storm:

I’ve always had trouble coming up with ideas. It’s my constant weakness. Give me an idea and I can articulate the hell out of it, finding all sorts of interesting nuance that bears on the story. But ask me to come up with ideas? No bueno.

I used to do that thing all the time where I’d stare at the blank Page One of a book, then realize suddenly that it’s extremely important that I walk circles in the living room and feed my dog twice.

(Don’t act like you haven’t done this.)

I stated in my last post that the writing life can be a beat-you-up pain in the ass. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the problems usually come from our emotional reactions to reality, not reality itself.

Yes, you can get rejected and yes, your new book sales can vastly underperform expectations, but chances are the rejection itself or the book sales alone probably aren’t what’s beating you up. It’s probably the associated emotion and the way you react (and then go into a tailspin) that does that. Especially if your day was already kind of crappy when the news hits you.

As writers, we often work alone. When you’re alone, it is easier for emotions to run amok because you are the only one able to change the situation. Unfortunately, my friends, sometimes we are the problem in the first place.

Continue reading HERE