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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

V is for Vultures

Let's talk vultures, shoulder vultures that is.  You know, those critters that sit on your shoulder while you're writing and whisper just how horrid every word that goes on the page is.  How that no one would ever want to read anything you could write and why even try, cause no one in their right mind would ever pay to publish your writing. 

We all have 'em.  And sometimes they come in the form of family and friends.  Often they come in the form of ourselves though. 

For example, how many people have you told you're a writer?  When someone asks what you do, do you tell them you write?  It took me a long time before I had the nerve to let the "world" know I was a writer.  Naturally, the next question is "what have you had published" or some form of that.  And it's hard to consider yourself a writer when the answer is nothing.  But the thing is, if you are writing, you are a writer.  Even if you don't have anything published.

The thing about shoulder vultures is, you don't have to listen to 'em.  You can ignore them.  They don't have to steal your joy in writing.  So, next time you hear those whispers, make the conscious effort to ignore them. Tell them they aren't welcome. The more you ignore them, the less they'll hang around.  Oh, they'll come back ever so often to see if you really mean it or not but you can win the battle.

Mine like to sit in the yard and laugh when I get a Negative Marketing Report. They've learned not to come inside. I just ignore 'em and send my work back out.

5 comments:

Bob Scotney said...

I know a writer who is so fed up with people asking whether he writes 'books and things' that now he tells them he writes grafitti.

Jean said...

Putting yourself out there like that can be hard sometimes. There are so many misconceptions about writing. For example, a published writer is raking in the money and about to sign a movie deal any day. Also, if you don't have anything published, then you aren't any good.

We just have to educate 'em. :-)

Brianna said...

I could totally relate to this post!

Sarah Allen said...

Yeah, very true post. I've got some particularly vicious shoulder vultures, but I'm getting better at ignoring them.

Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)

Sandra said...

The ongoing battle to keep our spirits up is a tough one. I have shoulder vultures to spare. They drape themselves over the edge of the hutch-top on my desk and glare down at me as well as perching on my shoulders.

Posts like this sure do help to remind me that I can send them packing.

Thanks Jean!