Living with a disability is never an easy thing, but there are times when it is more difficult than other times. I’m wired to be an outdoors person and try not to let my disability keep me from being active.
I learned years ago that I can’t live a life based on my feelings or limitations. To be honest, if I lived that way I would never accomplish anything. Especially this time a year, the shorter days and cooler temperatures sometimes suck the energy out of me.
The last few months have been particularly difficult this year. I’ve had a lot of writing projects I’ve been working on. Then the weather in the South decided to skip fall and go straight to winter in a matter a few days.
I’m not sure if it was shellshock or winter shock, but one morning I woke up to a cold winter rain pounding against my roof and windows. As I lay in bed, the thought of tackling my projects almost sent me into hibernation.
When I finally pulled myself from the black hole of my bed, I was sucked into the currents of a hurricane as I sat at my desk and tried to write. For almost an hour I sat there motionless as I stared at the blank monitor and I wondered if I actually had what it takes to make it as a writer. The endless fears and thoughts paralyzed me more than my brain injury.
- What if I never get an agent and I’ve wasted all these years chasing a selfish dream?
- What if I lose my passion for writing?
- What if I am too old or too young to write what I write?
- What if I’m pursuing the wrong kind of writing and I never sell anything?
- What if I run out of ideas to write about?
I know we all have doubts at some point and many give up on pursuing a writing career. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet and work with a number of outstanding writers who managed to break free from the black holes and hurricanes to become not only professionals but superstars in their own right.
Superstars
In 2013 the Huffington Post noted 145,900 American “writers and authors” counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.[i] That’s almost a quarter of 1 million Americans who make a living as a writer. But what does it take to be a writing superstar? I spent some time talking to some of my writing friends to get an idea of what disciplines they practice.
- Keep writing.
- Keep learning the craft.
- Network (writers conferences, social media)
- Be consistent and meet deadlines.
- Be a fierce self-editor or get a professional one.
- Manage your time wisely.
One of the luxuries of being a writer is making your own schedules for the most part. We still have deadlines to meet. A schedule is still a schedule. Get things done when they need to be done.
Get it done!
As 2018 comes to an end have you accomplished everything you set out to? I know I haven’t, I’ve spent this last few weeks focusing on other projects when I really wanted to be working on rewriting my screenplay.
Perhaps it is just my brain injury that gives me tunnel vision, but here are six mindsets I’m learning to help keep me focused and encouraged for the new year.
- Expect rejection.
- Write, even if you don’t feel like it.
- Timing is everything.
- Our timing isn’t God’s.
- A roadblock isn’t the end of the road, just a detour.
- All writers have to start somewhere.
As the holidays interrupt our writing schedules and plans, disappointments will come and I hope you return to this post to find some encouragement on your path to becoming a superstar.
[i] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-dietrich/the-writers-odds-of-succe_b_2806611.html
Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Truamatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.
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Hi Martin:
You make excellent points, and one many of us overlook is timing. But your article set me to thinking of the variables that a writer faces.
What I decided is that whether we’re rich, poor, fast, slow, time-pressed, or retired, we all have the same twenty-six letters to arrange on a page to elicit emotion.
You do it well. I always read your columns.
Thank you.