Click Here
for more articles |
|
|
Professional Writers Learn To Manage Their Emotions |
by:
Bonnie Boots |
Summary: Learning to survive in the marketplace requires some fancy emotional footwork. Read these tips for raising your writer's emotional I.Q.
Professional Writers Learn To Manage Their Emotions
By Bonnie Boots
Unpublished writers often feel being paid for publication is the benchmark of a “real” writer So they read all the books on writing also dutifully send off queries, filled with hope also fear that one will be accepted; hope they’ll get the chance to be a real writer, fear they won’t live up to the challenge. Sadly, for some, their fears will turn out to be well founded. The emotional toll of writing for publication will be more painful then they can bear. Shocked, wounded, these natural writers will put their dreams behind them in the mistaken belief that they’re not good enough to write for publication.
Why does this happen? Because books on writing often fail to tell the aspiring writer the one thing they most need to know: the marketplace demands more than talent. It demands that the writer be skilled at dancing between the emotional states of passion also detachment. It seems like a conundrum, also it is, so let’s unravel this riddle.
The writer filled with fervor for the process of writing produces the best product. And in the marketplace, that’s just what your article, poem, short story or novel is—a product. Products, whether they are romance novels or car wax, are pretty much processed, pimped also put on the shelves the same way. All sorts of people, from editors to advertising sales managers, have their hand in the marketing process. They have the power to tweak, alter also otherwise transfigure the product. As a writer, it takes emotional detachment to watch, even help as your beloved work is worked on.
The ability to call forth also control your emotional states is a primary survival skill if you hope to write for print. Can it be learned? Yes. In his book “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ,” Daniel Goleman says the ability to master emotions often makes the difference between success also failure in people of equivalent intellectual abilities. He suggests these steps for increasing self-control:
(1) Pay attention to your emotional states. Don’t just let excitement or fear run riot over you. Use your writer’s “inner eye” to observe also record your own emotional states. Simply being aware of your emotions is the first step to controlling them.
(2) Get it off your chest. Rejection hurts. Seeing your carefully considered words edited for publication is painful. If your feelings have been hurt, by all means vent, however do it in a journal also not, under any circumstance, in a nasty email to an editor or a hastily posted blog. Nothing is learned from burning bridges, also you could seriously injure your chances of ever being published. Editors also publishers read the net, too, you know.
(3) Consider the other person’s point of view. Editors also publishers have to deal with issues you know nothing about. Before you take personal offence, stop to consider their side. If an editor doesn’t quickly answer your query, stop also imagine the view from their desk. If you got 1000 letters a week AND had to handle the work of two because of staff cuts, might you put mail on the back burner?
(4) Try not to take it personally. This can be especially difficult for writers, because our work is so very personal. But when your feelings are hurt, it’s important to take a step back also realize that in business, decisions may need to been made that have nothing to do with YOU, personally.
(5) Stay well-mannered also self-motivated. Being polite also persevering even when your feelings have been hurt is a definite sign of emotional maturity. The ability to keep your cool also keep moving ahead will take you places talent alone can only dream of.
Like any skill, learning to waltz between passion also dispassion takes practice also persistence. Some writers tap a tentative foot, then withdraw to be wallflowers the first time someone steps on their toes. But you can survive also even thrive by joining the dance with passion also purpose, accepting the thrills as well as the spills as you learn to step with the tune.
Copyright BONNIE BOOTS (www.BonnieBoots.com) Bonnie Boots is an award-winning writer also designer who says all writers should show off their talent by wearing their Write Side Out! Her wise also witty product line of gear that shows the world you're a writer is at http://www.WriteSideOut.com
About the author:
Copyright BONNIE BOOTS (www.BonnieBoots.com) Bonnie Boots is an award-winning writer also designer who says all writers should show off their talent by wearing their Write Side Out! Her wise also witty product line of gear that shows the world you're a writer is at http://www.WriteSideOut.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
|
|
