Fear is the enemy of creativity. If a writer is worried about what loved ones might think or some fanged reviewer might say or a certain disproportionately-vocal minority of readers might rant, they risk squandering the better parts of their imagination envisioning disastrous future scenarios. The writing become timid and toned-down, a bland, anonymous shadow that is easily forgotten.
To push back creative boundaries and work to his or her potential, somehow, the writer has to find a way to dissociate from the completed work. By the time any product hits the market, I make it a point to be working one or two manuscripts down the line. That way, I can look at my new release as an artifact of my own past -- the best work I could manage at the time I wrote it. Like a fickle lover, I'm always most enamored of my current creation or next conquest. The last is nothing but a fond memory.
This isn't to say that I don't sponge up praise like a happy glutton or feel bruised (sometimes bloody) over a particularly barbed remark toward the newly-published release. But in my heart, I know my goal is to write books that please their unique audience -- not to please every literate human on the planet.
Do you have any tips to share on how to write fearlessly? If so, I'd love to hear them.
To push back creative boundaries and work to his or her potential, somehow, the writer has to find a way to dissociate from the completed work. By the time any product hits the market, I make it a point to be working one or two manuscripts down the line. That way, I can look at my new release as an artifact of my own past -- the best work I could manage at the time I wrote it. Like a fickle lover, I'm always most enamored of my current creation or next conquest. The last is nothing but a fond memory.
This isn't to say that I don't sponge up praise like a happy glutton or feel bruised (sometimes bloody) over a particularly barbed remark toward the newly-published release. But in my heart, I know my goal is to write books that please their unique audience -- not to please every literate human on the planet.
Do you have any tips to share on how to write fearlessly? If so, I'd love to hear them.
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