Careering

What do we want from the creative life?

Life is about growth and exploration, not achieving a fixed state of balance. You have a very limited time on earth to experience all that you can. Figuring out how to squeeze the most out of your family, work, and spirituality is your life's purpose. Go do it. -Mel Robbins

Dear Writers,

It’s wedding month! My daughter! I’m getting excited. I have to write a toast!

It’s also the first Monday of the month! So a good day to look at the upcoming month and set goals.

AND I also achieved a goal: this week, I finished reading through my new MG WIP. As usual, there is still work to do, but less work than before. I’m happy to say: I like the characters and structure. I know them better. I am saying what I want to say.

So, today, join me. Let’s take stock in where we are in our careers, even if you are just getting started.

Let’s start with what it feels like to be a creative person:

I feel lucky. And happy to still have ideas. If I feel curious, I know I can write. I am energized by questions I cannot yet answer.

Feeling good about the process is easy for me. But when I pull back the camera and look at my career? I can get downright ornery.

When I began writing, I thought my career was going to go like this: I’d work really hard, learn a lot about craft, get rejected at least 200 times (that part came true), and then, once I got an editor, I’d be on easy street. I’d write lots of books. And they’d all be accepted. And it would be EASY. And I was sure they’d do well, because well, I worked hard! And I studied! And in every other career I’ve pursued, that is how it worked. You do the work, and get the rewards. People, I am a person who has practiced thank you speeches in the mirror. Since I was ten!!!!

Ah, expectations. (Hello, old friend.)

Here’s another truth: In the beginning, I wrote ONLY for the joy of it. I also wished for stuff I couldn’t control. Or get without help.

So, let’s take stock. Look back. Then look ahead.

To my delight, I write and have published all kinds of books. I’ve made lots of friends. My writing continues to improve. I LOVE this community. But my career looks nothing like that Freitag plot line I was envisioning. I still get way more rejections than acceptances. I still am wrong way more than I am right. (Progress: it no longer bugs me.)

Every time I feel annoyed, I remind myself how much I LOVE writing stories way more than any of the other stuff I have done. But at the same time, there are still a lot of days I feel like an imposter. Like I snuck in the back door and I’m not supposed to be here. (I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.) I feel like the comparison game is trying to choke us.

Friends, as far as I can tell, we are all trying to deal with that! We have to put those doubts away.

Last, here are the questions I have been asking this morning as I get ready to dive back into this story:

What do I actually want Like: what do I REALLY WANT from this writing life? What will give me satisfaction? Is there a next step I want to take? What will help me get back to that joy I began with?

Is there a better way to keep going, through the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the long stretches of time between books, and the pressures of the world????

Is there something new and innovative I want to try? (Daring myself to do stuff always raises my spirits!)

Are you ready to stretch? And groan? And grow?

What do you want? I mean it. What do YOU want? What do you WANT???????? OWN IT!!!!!! Deal with it!!!! Confront your ego and ambition and use it as motivation.

Then get specific: What are three things you can do to get it? Can you pick one and actually do it?

And the first time you don’t get it: What are three things you can do to help yourself? Or maybe three things you WON’T do…because they sabotage you?

How much of your imposter syndrome rests in the comparison game? And social media? Or reading the news? Can you turn that stuff OFF?????? At least until you are done being creative? Next time you find yourself tempted to doomscroll, can you stop yourself?

Maybe write fast instead????

Or take off your glasses and write without looking?

Or read a book???

Or stretch, walk, run, or something else?

I know there are a lot of people feeling lousy about publishing right now. But we also are really ambitious. We are writing books! That is not easy! We have the most important audience in the universe. WHY should it be easy?

Here’s a prompt:

Has your main character ever had a nightmare/recurring dream? What was it about? What does this nightmare mean to your character? How does it strengthen the themes of your story?

Do you hate pitching your work? Yourself? How do you talk about your book and career? I have found that these things help me reveal my story. Join me for a session: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rs-presents-lifes-a-pitch-and-then-you-thrive-with-sarah-aronson-registration-1352411863289

Have a great writing week.

Embrace what YOU want.

xo Sarah