There are many writers that I greatly admire. Anne Lamott is one of those writers. I admire, to the point of a writer-girl-crush, her ability to take what she’s thinking and feeling and just lay it all bare. My copy of her book ‘bird by bird’ is underlined and dog-eared and has notations and exclamation points in the margins-my way of saying, “YES! Preach it, sister!”
I love her because she’s not afraid to show us both the salvation and the wreckage of words-the good, the bad and the questions about life all tangled up together into one beautiful, sometimes painful mess.
I think that takes courage and confidence.
I asked my writer friend Z.D. if I could share something she wrote about confidence and Z agreed I could share a portion of her work.
Confidence
My confidence is like,
An unsteady Jenga tower,
If you throw,
One more insult my way,
The facade I have worked so hard to keep,
Will shatter and I will be left standing in the wreckage.
So here’s to courage and confidence. May you be blessed with an abundance of both.
photo credit: pareeerica via photopin cc
Oh, sweets, I’ve been there. Writers, are like performance artists who spill their talent on the written page. Stay strong–and remind me of the same!
Exactly! I love that-performance artists. I will!
Sonya, I just got Anne’s book. Can’t wait to dive in! I like your sentiment of courage and confidence. That’s it!
What resonated with me was the chapter when she talked about the radio station that plays in a writer’s head. That’s one of the heavily underlined chapters ; – )
Hi Sonya! Writing takes courage. Rejection takes a suit of armor. Persistence in the face of rejection requires iron will or at very least, a massive stubborn streak ;-). I’m inspired by books like Lamott’s too, along with writer friends who lift me up. One of my writing mentors told me I had 24 hours to be sad after a rejection. I could wail, gnash teeth and complain all I wanted. Once those 24 hours were up, I had to get back to work. I’ve always loved that idea and I still use it when I receive revision notes I don’t agree with or- of course- more rejection . It’s nice because it gives us permission to be mad/sad/hurt while putting a limit on it too.
Thanks for the post!
I agree. I have great writer friends-I love the sense of community. That’s very good advice-sort of like a 24 hour bug : – ) Thanks for sharing that.