Whether it is The Yellow Brick Road or The Chisholm Trail, we all need a
path to get us along on our way. As I think back to my beginnings as a
writer, sitting in a darkened guard station working the midnight shift, I
remember feeling like Dorothy as she spun in a circle at the beginning
of the yellow brick road in the center of the Munchkin city.
Well these many years later I feel like I’ve finally reached part of my
goal. But, like Dorothy, with each goal met and companion I’ve picked up
along the road, I have also found new challenges. The first thing I
realized I needed was a brain. I needed to know what it meant be and
what the mechanics of writing were. So, I learned. Re-write after
re-write after re-write and step by step, until I finally got a finished
manuscript. After this came the marketing and trying to sale myself as a
writer.
The question I had to ask myself was did I have the
heart to put up with the rejection and denial that is an inevitable part
of this journey. When you finish your masterpiece, it can be scary to
put your work out there where other “less enlightened” people will sit
in judgment on it. You’ll have to somehow toughen your heart while
maintaining the tenderness of your soul that enables you to create.
Now the last step is the development of your courage. Do you have what
it takes to fight through the boredom and the isolation and loneliness,
except for your characters, that is part of the writing process? Can you
set yourself on a schedule and then keep that schedule while others are
watching TV or going out or perhaps even going to bed. Will you have
the courage to force yourself to achieve?
So there you have
it, the key to achieving your dream. Add to your journey brains, and the
heart to dream; and finally the courage to endure. Then work your plan
and above all else, don’t ever give up on your dream.
Ray Ellis
is the author of the Nate Richards mystery series. The first book,
N.H.I.(No Humans Involved) has been on ebook since March of this year
and has just been released in paperback. The second book in the series,
D.R.T.(Dead Right There) was released in mid-October to huge success.
The third book in the series is expected in early 2012. All Ray’s books
can be purchased on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.
http://authorray.blogspot.com/
http://urbanfictionunleashed.webstarts.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1201273463
Twitter@RayEllisNHI
No comments:
Post a Comment