Blue bookitis. That’s what they called it in college, a disease characterized by the belief that you could take every class offered in that enticing blue book of options. Archeology, Art History, Chaos Theory, Japanese Film Studies – you are a Renaissance Woman! You can do it all!
And then reality comes crashing down and you realize that, no, in fact, you will never be a ninja archeologist battling the forces of chaos while seeking a lost Da Vinci. Although, hey, that would make a great book…
And so you become a writer.
Surprise, surprise, I personally suffered a massive case of blue bookitis. I did, in fact, take things as diverse as ancient Japanese poetry, computer programming, and the sociology of modern media. And I discovered something very interesting and humbling and important:
I am not good at everything.
And you know what? That is sooooo freeing. I’m not equally good at everything I do, and in some areas I’m barely competent. It’s as true of cooking (and trust me, it’s VERY true of my cooking) as it is writing.
This is fantastic news. If I know what I do well, I can concentrate on doing more of that. If I know what I don’t do well, I can either decide to get better or I can figure out a way to do as little of it as possible. And call it style.
So here’s the $20,000 question: What do you do well?
Comment
Comment by Doreen Pendgracs on March 13, 2012 at 2:04pm What do I do well? I tell stories as though I was talking to a friend. Everyone always tells me that when they read my writing. Like I'm writing girlfriend to girlfriend. I really like to let my personality come out in my writing.
Comment by Olga Godim on March 13, 2012 at 1:50pm What do you do well? That's a tricky question. What do I think I do weel or what do people think I do well? I think I make up good stories, but my fiction editor doesn't agree. She said my heroes don't have enough problems, their lives are too easy. On the other hand, I think I'm a so-so journalist, but my newspaper editor is happy with me. I write for a small community, and I have some fans among my readers. Whenever they see me, they always come to let me know how much they enjoyed my latest article. So what do I do well? Go figure!
Comment by Catrina Barton on March 13, 2012 at 12:40pm Very interesting way of looking at it. Thanks for sharing. According to everyone I know I should be a chef lol. I've never taking a cooking class in my life. I learned through necessity at a young age. I'm a writer, and in high school I failed English Lit regularly. Go figure. :P
Growing up I wanted to be a singer, but always lost myself in reading books. XD
Patricia, I hadn't even thought of that - but of course blue bookitis still hits us all the time -in both definitions! LOL. I think for me, what keeps me focused is that I'm usually writing on deadline (which equals paycheck) so I can't be tempted to drop the old for a new idea, and time on my novel is so tiny and precious, I'm not tempted there at all.
For me the big issue is overscheduling, but that's off-topic. I'll moan about that when I'm not guest-editing... :)
Comment by Patricia Woodside on March 13, 2012 at 11:09am Tyra/Joy, do they still have those little books? Or, has it been that long?
As far as the writing, I know I write short stories, book blurbs, book reviews, inspirational pieces and other shorter things well. The novel remains a challenge. It's a long way from beginning to end and "blue bookitis" often hits midstream. Whatever I'm working on, I'm sure to get a "better" idea while in progress. I capture them for later, but sometimes they can be quite distracting. My current wip is staying with me, succumbing to only a minor case of the "itis" in which I'm committed to the story but who and what my main characters are/want keeps changing as I write.
Comment by Clene` S. Elder on March 13, 2012 at 10:56am Hey Joy!
So good to talk to you… To me an organized thinker is someone who can take a small idea and gradually build upon the same train of thought to develop a full-blown finished product.
To break it all down, I might start will something as simple as Pre-K. Then I take a blank sheet of paper and write down groups of key words, i.e. goals within the curriculum, the teaching methods, the impact on each individual child, what I have observed from my child’s experience, etc. From there, I just try to develop each group by writing as much as I can without a break (if I can help it). After each group is developed, I put it all together. :-)
I hope this helps!
Clene`
Comment by Joy Amber on March 13, 2012 at 10:54am Ringing up Goddess of Structure...wondering when she will be holding her next class-smiling
Carole, I think you nailed it - we are so much more adept at identifying what we don't do well. I dunno, maybe it's cultural, maybe we can blame our own high standards, but whatever it is, we have to get over it. We need to be able to clearly say what it is we do well. Personally, I'm the Goddess of Structure.
Comment by Joy Amber on March 13, 2012 at 10:41am Hey Clene, what is an organized thinker? Does this mean you already have your story line well put together without flaking out of ideas? How would one learn to be more organized because I really, truly, need this advice;)
Comment by Joy Amber on March 13, 2012 at 10:32am Patricia, I was smiling reading your comment because I imagined myself sweating over those little books thinking " I guess the term has changed and at least now I don't feel like jumping out of a window to escape it. When I return to college, I know I am going to want to choke one the first time I see it...that's if they still use them.
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