We’ve all heard that saying – JUST DO IT. And Nike honed it for their big advertising campaign. But many times, those 3 little words are so much easier said than done.

What stops us from following 3 simple words?

1. Fear – fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, even success. We have to push our way through to keep going for those things we want in life.

2. Hesitancy – this goes along with fear, but even if you think you’ve mustered up the courage to take action toward a new goal, new path in life – WOP! Along comes a great way to wait. You know that old diet saying “Guess I’ll start tomorrow.” We do the same thing in all other areas of life. Writers often embrace doing laundry because it’s a task that makes us *feel* like we’ve accomplished something, but it doesn’t get the words onto the page. Do the laundry later. Write first.

3. Unclear on where to go. This one is valid, and we need to plan a path for us to follow. However, don’t get so caught up in planning and thinking and pondering where you want to go, that you never STEP out onto the path itself.

I’ve seen these 3 fears in myself, in other writers, in people no matter what their profession or hobby. And it all boils down to – JUST DO IT. Push through the doubts and keep going. What have you got to lose?

Rainy days always bring out the pensive side in me, and right now it’s overcast and gray outside. Perfect inspiration for putting some thoughts to the Web, right?

I had an interesting artistic exchange with a writer this past week. Since I don’t wish for this blog to call attention to one’s artistic experiences over another, or to point fingers or name names, everyone in this post shall remain nameless. 

That being said, let’s call this writer “Artist A.” Artist A is a talented writer. I know. I read his book. And his book became a movie. Not just ANY movie…a very successful one. And yet, he claims he will never write another book as long as he lives.

Perhaps such a strong “never” statement shouldn’t have affected me. I mean, to each his own, right? But it did. I couldn’t help but wonder why he had such a strong reaction to something he had always wanted to do–writing a book.

After some more conversation and reading some of his past blogs, I learned that he had some very unfortunate experiences with his lit agent, with his publisher, with a lot of things along the way. Yes, this happens. Sometimes, certain things are out of our control.

But aren’t some things *within* our control? I suppose this was what nagged and poked at me after I read about his experiences. Artist A continued to mention various things he wished others would have done to make things better. Some of these things, Artist A could have done on his own. Perhaps he hadn’t expected this reality, but he really could have capitalized on the success of the story. From what I understand, he is now writing for different mediums but refuses to ever write another book.

Sad, in a word.

Now let’s take Artist B. Artist B has been in the artistic industry for decades, and has struggled with every piece of art that gets put out into the world. And yet, Artist B continues to keep going. If one book or film doesn’t do well, Artist B pumps up the resolve and goes back to creating something new.

This Artist A versus Artist B philosophy is not new. It’s a matter of realizing what IS in our control to make a better experience out of the entire situation. Yes, Artist A didn’t get a fair deal. But his book was also made into a well-received movie, something many authors would give their left arm for. Artist B has had tough experiences, but has kept going despite the many roadblocks.

It’s interesting to ponder. And I hope I am more like the latter. Because while things are tough and challenging, I don’t want to ever give up on my dream. Some things are in our control, and it’s up to us to recognize these things and embrace them. You can’t control everything, but control what you can.

How about anyone else? Ever given up on a long venture? Ever change your mind and go after something else?

Elaine

Good morning from the CHILLY South. One of my Twitter followers said, “What’s with this weather? I blame Canada.”

Well, South Park the TV series would agree (they even had a song about it) but in the meantime, it is just darn COLD.

Which means I stay inside more. Which means I’m on the Internet more to search for some kind of useful info, connections w/other writers, etc.

Which brings me to Twitter. While I’ve been a member for many years (@writerscanvas is me) I never saw the great potential with Twitter until recently. There are tools, such as Friend or Follow, which can tell you who you are following, but who isn’t following you back. Now, I don’t expect celebrities or busy people in the pub industry to necessarily follow me back (though one did – more on that later), but for other writers like myself who aren’t super famous, I went ahead and culled out those users who weren’t following me back.

There’s another benefit to this. You can follow more people–people who you can connect with and learn from–if you keep your list maintained. If you have thousands of people you are following, but 1000 of them aren’t following you back, are your Tweets reaching the audience you want?

Bottom line, I am finding Twitter to be a great tool. There are hashtags (#) with items to make it easy to search and find topics of interest. Some writing favorites are:

#amwriting
#writegoal
#indiepub
#selfpub
#indiefilm

And more.

On that note, go forth and have a great day!

Good morning, world! A few changes are in the works, and I wanted to share them with you.

First, while I still intend to keep my web site, blog, and twitter as “writerscanvas” themed, I have chosen to take on a pseudonym. For now. The name I will be writing under and you will see on my profile is Elaine Calloway. 

Why, you ask?

Because I’m finally beginning to embrace the idea of indie publishing, and I may be posting some short stories or novels out on Smashwords, Amazon, etc. in the near future. If that happens, I want to have a pseudonym. Perhaps if I ever go with “the big 6” (meaning the 6 major publishing companies in NYC) then I will use my real name. For now, I like Elaine Calloway. Elaine is my first name, and Calloway is the street where my grandparents lived.

That, plus many of the other names I looked at already had websites, twitter accounts, and social media galore already out there. We must start fresh, right?

So those of you who know me by my real name, you’ll start to see Elaine Calloway on my Internet profiles.

For those of you who don’t know my last name, well, you’ll still see Elaine Calloway on my Internet profiles!

Second, I will probably do some short stories first before I plunge into indie publishing my books. There are still some boutique publishers reading the full manuscripts of my current books, and I want to ensure I have seen those efforts through before hastening to post anything up on Amazon.

I do hope to blog more often, and I welcome questions or comments from y’all regarding which topics you’d like to see.

Have a happy Sunday and thanks!

Elaine Calloway

Happy 2012 to everyone! Yes, I’m a bit late in blogging. A woman I met at last October’s ACRA conference (Ancient City Romance Authors, in St. Augustine, FL) is putting a blog together of “writer’s spaces.”

I like this concept. Everyone sets up their desk/area differently, everyone likes having different icons around them when they sit down to create. (Or perhaps, like me, sit down to bang head on desk because I often want to force the muse even though I know better.)

At any rate, check out her blog here: http://vickielking.blogspot.com/p/writing-corners.html

There’s a photo of my writing space, my desk & all my stuffed animals, postcards, icons, totems I keep nearby for inspiration.

If you’re a writer, what types of things do YOU keep in your writing space?

If you’re not a writer, do you like certain things near your desk or where do you often read or work?

Elaine