by Bobbie Christmas
I devoted an entire chapter to my Bill of Writes for writers in my seven-award-winning book on creative writing titled Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing. Special to WPN, I have agreed to list and explain each item. Below you’ll find numbers seven and eight in my Bill of Writes. For all twenty-one items, refer to Write In Style, published by BookLogix and available on Amazon.
You Have the Right to Tell Others About Your Successes
Why on God’s green earth does success create shyness in some people? Are they afraid if they boast others will consider them braggarts? Do they fear their achievement won’t be as great as someone else’s? Why else do we write, if not to achieve success, and what good is success if no one knows about it?
Promise me from this day forward that when your poem appears on an internet site, when you have an op-ed piece published in the paper, when you write a manual that makes life simpler for someone else, or when whatever you write gets published in any form, regardless of whether you get paid for the work, you will tell others about your successes. Be sure to write up your successes and send them to your social and professional organizations for inclusion in their newsletters, too.
I lead a group called The Writers Network. Its free monthly newsletter, The Writers Network News, disseminates writing tips, news, markets, and other information to writers and also gives writers a forum to announce their successes.
Success breeds success. The more you talk about success, the more you succeed. Your successes not only drive you forward but also encourage others to succeed.
Editor’s note: If you’ve a WPN member and have a success you’d like to share, email editor@spawn.org and we’ll spread the word.
You Have the Right to Wander Starry-eyed Through an Office Supply Store
Julia Cameron, who wrote The Artist’s Way, recommends that artists make dates with themselves to do whatever makes them feel like artists. When I heard about that idea, I knew my artist’s date would be at an office supply store, where I could pore over the stationery, binders, folders, erasers, rubber stamps, gizmos, gadgets, and you name it. I like colorful file folders and paper clips, especially.
Some supplies improve my efficiency and others increase my pleasure as I work. Granted, some sit in a drawer waiting for me to find a use for them. So what?
As a writer, you are also an artist. Let the artist in you come out to play, to find the tools and toys that make you a more contented writer.
Bobbie Christmas is a book doctor with twenty-five years of experience and is the author of Write In Style: How to Use Your Computer to Improve Your Craft, winner of seven awards. Her website is www.zebraeditor.com.