Writers, Authors, & Validation

 

Alright. So I bumped into a couple articles on Literary Hub, and it got me thinking. I needed to do my morning pages anyway, so I grabbed my journal and figured, "what the hell." 

We're all artists, the way I see it. Some of us know our optimal medium and some have yet to find it or are still exploring because their poly instead of mono (like with sexuality, it's whatever).

I think as humans "Embracing Doubt" is a part of claiming authority not just as a writer/author but also as an artist in general -- and as a human as well, come to think of it. There will always be some measure of self doubt. There's mental insecurity in the unpublished artist as well as fear -- of failure, of success. of judgment and rejection. The immortal self doubt that, even my book pubs later, will still burst from the thorax and rear its anxiety-riddled head. The beast will declare the authorship line in the sand has shifted and you didn't cross it after all; it's now thousands of miles away in a new location altogether.

Sounds too much like Pilgrim's Progress for my liking. I've got news for your -- my -- insecurity and fear: that isn't how this works. 
A writer writes. Do you write? Well then. You're a writer. 
Oh... you mean the definition of THE AUTHOR then?
In legal parlance, the writer of a book, article, or report. Someone who is the originator or create of a piece.

So go write a blogpost or a newsletter. Publish it on a blog and out it out into the maelstrom of digital information known as the internet.That alone is enough to make you both a writer and an author, regardless of what anyone else claims while they nitpick and try to deflate your enthusiasm with vindictive persistence fueled by their own fears and self-doubt.

What about audience? Pfft. That's all social media visibility; hardly what I came here for. 
Market saturation? Big words for business people. Everyone knows the best advert is word of mouth networking, friend to family etc. Let your readers come to you. Make yourself present and allow them to come to you. The most productive use of your time, as an author, is to continue creating and inspiring yourself by whatever means necessary.

Well okay, qualifiers and standards, but I'm lazy and will just toss out the Marine Corps version of the Safety Briefing:

Don't add to the population.
Don't subtract from the population.
Stay out of the hospital, the media, and the holding cell.

I think, barring these actions and their consequences, pretty much anything in life qualifies as artistic research. Even if your art isn't at the forefront of your mind, it still counts; artists are more renowned for rumination than dairy cows. 

So I say these things to bolster my own courage as well as that of my fellow artists. Own your writer space and make room for it, both physically and mentally, in your life and in your mind. Dedicate resources (time, effort) to your aspiration, ideas, and desires. Set small and attainable goals for yourself because it will help you build your momentum and keep you moving in the direction you want to go.

You're a writer (artist), competent and professional and prolific.

Define what success looks like to you. Set yourself some small, attainable goals. When you reach them, set new ones. A half hour without digital distraction, thinking about your project. Make some mind maps on actual paper with an actual pen.

At the beginning of this year I made a rather lofty goal of finishing all five novels I have sitting at 65k by the end of the year. It's going on August (my two year anniversary) and so far I'm batting zero. I figured, back at the beginning of the year, that if I aimed for something ridiculous then I'd at least get something accomplished but I'm not entirely confident my brain works that way anymore.

AND IF YOU'VE READ THIS FAR YOU DESERVE COOKIES.
FeNRiR said so. Then again he thinks all things and all peoples deserve cookies all of the time. He's also 20 pounds overweight and living his best life. Dog food kibble? Not for this boy. He eats whatever we're eating, though in much smaller quantities.

I feel like this new med is making me just ever so slightly manic. So we'll have to wait and see if my good intentions of getting back into the habit of monthly newsletters actually sticks.