Melissa Wiley
@melissawiley
Author of The Nerviest Girl in the World & other books for kids
Cohost of the Brave Writer Podcast with Julie Bogart
Melissa Wiley
@melissawiley
Author of The Nerviest Girl in the World & other books for kids
Cohost of the Brave Writer Podcast with Julie Bogart
Sometimes the source of frustration is external; sometimes it’s internal. The specifics change, but there will always be something.
I bet you wish there was a magic wand to fix things for you...
"Magic is using energy to intentionally
transform and affect outcomes."
I learned this from an author I support on Patreon (Rachael Herron) and then checked it
The only sensible course, with respect to each new potential productive obsession that you field, is to pause and think.
But love and passion are not the criteria; good reasons are. A productive obsession is an idea that you have good reasons for pursuing. It is the way you use your brain to handle the business of life, do the next right thing, make meaning, and make yourself proud. If genuine love, passion, and interest are fueling the idea, consider them bonuses or
... See moreYou are agreeing to bleed for your art on days when your ideas torture you. Do not nod and agree to risk your equanimity and to live tumultuously unless you mean it. Maybe you didn’t quite understand what was being asked of you when, previously, you casually agreed that you were willing to take some risks for the sake of your writing. I hope that
... See moreFrom experience, I knew what to do. Write. Write anything. Bad sentences, meaningless sentences, anything to get the mind fixed again to that sheet of paper and oblivious of the ‘real’ world. Write until the words begin to make sense, the cogs mesh, the wheels start to turn, the creaking movement quickens and becomes a smooth, oiled run, and then,
... See moreIt is vital that a person who has decided to turn the seeds of interest into full-fledged productive obsessions learn to distinguish between those things that merely interest him and those things that really interest him. If he can’t make some sensible distinctions, he may try to build brainstorms in places of insufficient interest. If, say, his
... See more