The Beast wants you to stop writing.
The Beast lusts for failure, self-defeat, and destructive self-talk.
It is always hungry.
It tells you each rejection isn't just a rejection of your story, it's a rejection of you, the person.
The Beast lies.
The Beast will always be hungry.
It smells exhaustion and frustration and resentment and jealousy like a shark noses blood in the water.
But you can defeat the beast.
You win each time you submit a story, each time you have the courage to sit down in front of a blank screen, each time your pencil or pen touches paper. You spank the beast on the nose each time you write despite the odds, despite the reward, despite what anyone--including yourself--might say.
It's weak, really, this Beast. Weak and small and alone, and it wants you to feel that way, too.
It will always be hungry because it is a nothing, a hollow thing. Empty.
Read my post on Shimmer's blog about fighting the Beast with persistence.
12 comments:
Thanks for this. : )
Great posts, Aaron (here and Shimmer). My Beast is locked in a dark basement being fed Twilight books. I almost feel sorry for it.
The Beast is definitely starving with me, then, because I don't have any short fiction to send out. Maybe it will starve to death.
Spank the beast! Excellent. And, for some reason, I see wild-eyed villagers with pitchforks from a classic Disney animated feature...
Great posts, both here and on Shimmer. And congrats on the sale! :-D
Becca - the Beast made me do it.
L.R. - Oh...I feel sorry for it, too. Ouch.
K.C. - You can, of course, sub anything else in for short fiction.
Milo - I'm sure the mob has that short, fat man and the tall, skinny man. Every Disney mob had those dudes...
Thanks, Tony.
Great, inspiring Shimmer post, as well. Smack that beast. Smack it hard and make it cry.
-Mercedes
Nice (helpful) posts, Aaron. My beast has been casting long shadows over me, but he's a little bit smaller now.
Thanks, Mercedes. I will.
Cate - Those beasts can be so beastly.
All of it is true, of course. And time and experience make it that much easier to smack down that weak ass son of gun. Depending on my mood when I open it, I still have days when a rejection is a punch in the gut--but I will prevail!
Great Shimmer post!
Thanks, Katey. If rejections ever mean nothing to me, I'll probably quit writing.
My Beast's first name is Procrastinate. :(
Post a Comment