Feeling A Little Bit Writing Bi-polar...

Yup, you read that right. I'm feeling a bit battered and bruised and neurotic as I write this post. "Why?" you ask? Cuz I got a response from another ePublisher for my Cowboy story... and they're passing. *sigh*

Once again, the editor was perfectly nice and informed me that I had a great voice and was very talented... BUT she's going to have to decline this story. Have you ever just wanted to bang your head on your computer? That's how I felt... and still do. But, where does the bi-polar part come in? Glad you asked!

I had the pleasure recently to take part in a series of online workshops given by funny, sassy, wonderful author D.D. Scott. She does great classes about Muse Therapy. In one of the classes of the workshop she talks about "Writing Bi-Polar: I Suck vs. I'm a Genius". Go ahead, laugh, and nod your head all you authors out there... cuz you KNOW it's true and you know just what she's talking about. But if you ever have a chance to take one of her "Muse Therapy Workshops" I'd suggest that you RUN not walk to participate.



Anyway, in one of her lessons she gives suggestions on how to get past the lows of rejections and... "I suck!" moments. One of those suggestions is a "Quotes to live by" document or shoebox to help get over the downers, and keep you in the uppers (wow, that sounds bad... but truly it's not). And since I am currently dealing with my own personal "I SUCK!" moment, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite quotes from my own "To Live by" document:

“When the world says, ‘Give up’, Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’” --- Author Unknown

This one is probably my mantra right now. This story has been worked and reworked to the point that it doesn't even really resemble the original story... okay, except in a purely superficial way.

"Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again!" Swing Time with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Frank Sinatra did his version of it as well.

This one has actually been a part of my life...well, for most of my life. I have been dancing (ballet, modern, jazz, etc.) since I was ... well, let's not say how young I was and suffice it to say I've been dancing almost 30 years and just go from there. Anyway, it's something that is a bit of a dancer mantra... everyone falls, and if you quit just because you didn't get it perfect the first time, you're never gonna make it in this business. The same can be said for writing for publication. If you let the first, second, third... hell, the HUNDREDTH rejection make you quit, then maybe it's not the business for you.

"The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground." ~ Author Unknown

This one gets me in soooooo many ways... and you know it does you too. Yes, sometimes we're little nuts. LOL And yes, if we hold our ground, we may just get to where those roots will help us grow.

So, while I'm feeling a bit down, and wondering why in the world I do this to myself, I think that my years and years of dancing, auditions, rejections and sometimes downright nasty comments about my physique (yes, those horror stories are true in most cases) have lent themselves to my philosophy on writing for publication. Nobody got it perfect the first time.

Heck, it's something I tell my little dance students, "Do you think that when I first tried this step that I got it perfect on the first try?" Granted, invariably they tend to nod their heads and think I did in fact master it in one try, but I quickly correct them, "NO! I fell, I tripped, I had to do it over and over again sometimes over a matter of years before I got it just right, and sometimes I STILL mess it up and I've been doing it for 30 years! The point is that you keep trying and eventually you'll get there."

Yeah, I know, I need to take my own advice. LOL And on that note, I think I'll go and set my Cowboy aside for a bit. Not for good, just until I can take another look and see if what is truly wrong with it is something I can see. Until then, I'll pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again with another story. How about the rest of you? Do you have something that helps you get past rejections? Do you have a quote that you want stapled to your forehead so you can always remember it?