AUTHOR'S CORNER;

UNBLOCKING ME!

Okay, so it's the start of the week and frankly I am sat here wondering where on earth I am! I know where I am physically; I'm at home, at my desk.  But I have no idea where I am otherwise; in life, in career or in existence!  I have had three cups of coffee, taken up my electronic cigarette (yes, I'm trying to stop smoking) and practically chocked myself on the vapour (that, by the way is supposed to be harmless...hmm?) and I feel quite dizzy!  Last week I wrote two and a half chapters straight!  The inspiration was such that I could barely contain my nail polished fingers from hitting that keyboard!  That was a good week!  The weekend has come and gone and I was busy, taken up with family commitments.  But now it's Monday

again and I am deflated, disheartened and a little (a lot) demotivated!  I glance at my 'fame shelf', that's the shelf I keep my published novels on, and found two puny novels sat upon it!  Yes it is an achievement, of course it is, I am published, but one would have been happier with at least a dozen novels in one's name!

I know, I know, I know what my readers are thinking; I've hit rock bottom, I am blocked and a little depressed!  If truth be told, I have hit something, and am a little depressed; I am blocked, and no writer likes being blocked.  It is a very insecure feeling when one is blocked - oh my God, have I lost the thread???  Suddenly, what had seemed like a path to success, what had started off as an adventure, has deflated to a self doubting, self berating sequel of questions....can I actually make it in the world of literature, am I good enough, am I deluding myself, what if I only ever publish two novels?  So I trawled the net for some inspirational quotes on motivating myself out of this blockage that seems to be looming just above my head, up there, slightly off centre like an angry rain cloud.  

So, in my own self doubt and amidst my own deflated feeling, I shall share some of those wonderful inspirational quotes with you and hope that whilst I am doing so my writer's block will vanish and any of yours if you happen to be experiencing those Monday blues!

True, it is only but a state of mind, and our minds state to us weird and wonderful things each and everyday, including self doubt and insecurities!  It really is a matter of which statement you decide to listen to!

There is no gain without pain; every person who has made something out of themselves will tell you of the many years of hardship, rejection and starting over!

Nobody starts off great, nobody is immediately known to the world as soon as they decide to declare their talent.  Greatness comes from experience and perfecting your art, acknowledgement is but an opinion of the people, so by persisting you may just change their opinions!

Ever heard a relative say to you when you were a kid, 'I could have been a great singer, artist, writer, mechanic, but I never had the opportunities' as they told of their talent with a distant look in their eyes?  It's all about persistence and insistence!

It is true, if you work hard, want something enough, you will only walk in its path and when you walk the path, you will get to where it is!

This one is very true, if one is blocked, one has no option but to take up arms (computer) and write! soon you will find that the sheer force of your pounding upon that keyboard will loosen the blockage and let the writing flow through!

The more you write, the better you become, the better you become, the better equipped you are to go forth and pursue your dream.

Chances are, if you wrote that novel within a week, with no writer's block or difficulties, then it ain't that good! Good writing is difficult to create, it is well thought through, has good grammar and flows smoothly whilst being outrageously thought provoking!

Not to give us writers airs and graces, but good story telling is a precious, if not thought provoking tool. Being a writer gives you the privilege of being part of having impact on society!

If in the core of your essence you keep coming back to one pressing point; you are made to write, every inch of you screams writing, there is a deep seated need to tell a story... then even if you happen to glance at that 'fame shelf' and see only two novels, or one, or even none yet; it shouldn't matter, because it's not the stories that are out there in circulation, it's the stories that are inside your head and at your fingertips that matter!

This was therapeutic; I feel much better now, thank you.  As for the rest of my day?  I have a pressing date with my heroin, she has yet to manipulate that man she's got her eye on!