Brighter Thinking, Better Words

Be Positive. Really?

Not everything we hear about living a long and happy writer’s life includes the practice of maintaining a positive outlook. So many writers describe their efforts as misery, trying to come up with the opening line that’s a grabber, the descriptive details or dialogue that sell the character, the solution to the “soggy middle” of the story that can ruin everything.

The Curse of the Blank Page

Writing’s many challenges sometime make it too easy to take on the cloak of the suffering author instead of choosing to focus on the pieces that work—the hurdles we’ve already overcome, that perfect little phrase that we actually came up with on our own. Ha! Still, occasionally we can be stopped cold in the face of the blank page, the elusive plot twist, that perfect choice of words that just won’t come. Even then, we are better off to not keep entertaining it, stewing over it, belaboring it, and making ourselves crazy. It doesn’t always work. It’s probably a good idea to “step away,” but ten minutes later we’ll be back at it, trying to beat it into submission.

One Inspiring Outlaw

Generally, though, it’s important to watch our language because what we say is either reflecting our thoughts or instructing them. Frank Outlaw, the late supermarket chain founder, put it this way:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words;
watch your words, they become actions;
watch your actions, they become habits;
watch your habits, they become character;
watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

In the Service arena, attention to detail is a pervasive mantra.

It might lead us to think about how we service our brain. If we look at what Outlaw said, what level of detail would help prepare a writer’s mind for a healthy, positive destiny? We might ask: how am I servicing my mind for a great story if I routinely refer to the process as a maddening experience. If we’re not allowing ourselves to have an overall satisfactory assessment of a challenging writer’s day, we might be facing an even harder uphill battle. If we spent an hour or so stuck on a certain scene or situation, would we let it define our day, a whole day, as terrible? – That “Welcome to my world” mentality. We can almost feel the debris that keeps us from holding a bright image of this blessed writer’s life.

So, what should we do?

Yes, we can step away, but we’ll have to come back sooner or later. How do we deal with it?  Well, If we’ve ever gardened, we surely recall those beautiful blooms that eventually colored the entire ground where the weeds had been. If we enjoyed a good ball game, we may not even remember the number of tags or pop fouls or times we never  got to first and ten. Giving birth is considered the most painful experience, even for the father, but who remembers it once the baby arrives.

Okay, writing can often be a struggle.

That’s why it might be a good idea to go look at  other things we’ve written, maybe a story that won an award or received some great reviews or compliments. It helps to choose a positive way out instead of continually stirring the pot of negative thoughts and words.

Bill Klem, considered to be “the father of all baseball umpires,” said it best. One day, as he walked through the clubhouse, he overheard a couple of star pitchers bragging about their curve ball and fast ball and change-up, and so on. The legendary umpire just sat down and listened and after a little while he said. “Fellas, I just want you both to remember one thing—it ain’t nothin’ till I call it.”

The writer’s life can be pure misery and hardship or it can be happy and hopeful—it ain’t nothin’ till we call it.