William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize-winning American author and considered one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, once said,

The writer’s only responsibility is to his art. He will be completely ruthless if he is a good one.

Wow. Do you think there’s any truth to that? I like the idea that a writer’s (or any artist for that matter) responsibility is to her art. But I find it hard to be “completely ruthless.” Or even a little bit ruthless. Ruthless isn’t a word I use very often. I prefer words like authenticity, courage, resilience, genuineness. So it’s hard to imagine what being completely ruthless would even look like. But since I want to be a “good one,” as in a good writer, I’m willing to explore this a little further.

Ruthless: adj. Having no compassion or pity; merciless.

I think we need to be ruthless with the resistance that comes from writing or any other creative endeavors.

We need to be ruthless with that part of us that loves to waste time and tells us that we need to check our email a dozen times a day and check in with friends on facebook several times a day, as well.

We need to be ruthless with the inner critic that says we aren’t good enough.

We need to have no compassion or pity for outward critics, either.

And we need to be ruthless with the part of ourselves that wants to quit because it’s too hard to be really good at something. It takes too much practice, too many hours. We will be merciless with the excuses.

Okay, I’m getting the hang of it now. Perhaps my fellow southerner knew what he was talking about. We need to be ruthless with anything (i.e. behaviors and attitudes) and anybody that stands in the way of us expressing ourselves and our art with authenticity, genuineness, courage and resilience.

What do you think? Do you have what it takes to be completely ruthless? I’d love to hear from you.

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Season Nine

This is my first season of watching American Idol. The prior eight seasons have gone by without me because I thought that there would be nothing that I could learn from this particular reality show.

I was wrong.

There are life lessons in everything. And sometimes the biggest life lessons are found in the least expected places. Here are the 12 Life Lessons I’ve learned, so far, from watching American Idol:

1. Figure out who you are as an artist.

2. Experience and practice really matter.

3. Be true to who you are. Don’t try to be someone else. Discover where your gifts and talents lie.

4. Put your own twist on things.

5. Be honest. Let the emotion come from the heart. Express yourself in the most truthful way that you can.

6. Choose your platform carefully. (Are you a fiction writer, nonfiction, poet, playwright, singer, painter, dancer? Don’t try to be all of them. Choose one thing to focus on and do it well.)

7. Hone your story. Know what makes you unique, different, remarkable and talk about that.

8. Avoid self-indulgence. Focus on what you have to give. Not on what you want to get.

9. Connect with your audience in big and small ways.

10. Have fun. A person who truly enjoys what they do is very attractive.

11. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way.

12. Be remarkable.

Crystal Bowersox

So what do you think? Are there other life lessons that can be learned from watching American Idol? I’d love to hear from you.

Buy my book, Seeking Sara Summers.

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Since I think it’s fun to share photographs, I also put up a few small photo albums of my trip to Italy, my time living in Colorado and trips to various places in the southwest, a fan album and a book cover album. 
 

This photo is of me on a street in Florence, Italy. I’m on my way to rent a car to drive to Assisi for an overnight visit and from there I went to Siena for a few days and then to the coastal villages at Cinque Terre.
 

I had dreamed about going to Italy for years. I went there, in part, to do research for Seeking Sara Summers because some of the novel takes place in Italy. I love doing research that involves travel! The novel I’m working on now is set in the Georgia low country, near Savannah, which is a little closer to home. I feel a road trip coming on!
 

If you have a website, let me know the address so I can visit your site. And, like I said before, I’d love to hear what you think of my new design and content.

Onward and upward!

Susan

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Salon/iStockphoto

 

There is a really good article at Salon.com this week by Laura Miller. She offers advice to the novelist on how to write better books. In her piece she mentions a Guardian article  called Ten Rules for Writing Fiction which is really good, too. If you aspire to write a novel or are already a novelist, you might find both pieces interesting.

Here is a  brief excerpt from Laura Miller’s piece:

Readers are what every novelist really wants, so isn’t it about time that a reader offered them some advice? I’ve never written a novel, and don’t expect to ever do so, but I’ve read thousands. Here are my five recommendations for the flailing novice:

1. Make your main character want something.

2. Make your main character do something.

3. The components of a novel that readers care about most are, in order: story, characters, theme, atmosphere/setting.

4. Remember that nobody agrees on what a beautiful prose style is and most readers either can’t recognize “good writing” or don’t value it that much.

5. A sense of humor couldn’t hurt.

She explains each point in the article. Read it here and let me know what you think.

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Check out my day job here. I help people have a better life.

A lynx crosses the finish area during the first training run for the men’s downhill race of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, B.C.

This has nothing to do with writing or creativity, except that I’ve been watching the Olympics every night on television and until I saw this photo, I hadn’t given a thought to the 4-legged spectators that may be watching, as well.

Are you watching the Olympics?

According to The Writer’s Almanac, today is Toni Morrison’s birthday. Toni Morrison was born Chloe Wofford in Lorain, Ohio (1931). Lorain was a steel town. Her father worked at the steel mill and in construction, and her mother raised the kids. Morrison said about her mother:

When an eviction notice was put on our house, she tore it off. If there were maggots in our flour, she wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt. My mother believed something should be done about inhuman situations.

Morrison went to college, got interested in theater and traveled around in an acting troupe, then went on to get a master’s in English. She loved to read, but had never been a writer except for a few stories in high school. But after she got married and had two children, her marriage started to dissolve, and she needed an escape. She said,

It was as though I had nothing left but my imagination. I wrote like someone with a dirty habit. Secretly. Compulsively. Slyly.

She joined a writing group, but after she had workshopped her stories from high school, she was out of things to share, so she wrote a story about a black girl who wanted blue eyes. And then she started to expand it into a novel called, The Bluest Eye (1969). She went on to write eight more novels, including Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and most recently, A Mercy (2008). And she was the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

Do you write secretly, compulsively, slyly? If not, I recommend it. Sometimes secrets are good, especially if there are critics nearby or you can be easily influenced. Part of the task of being a writer is to protect your new creations. Some of you may do things totally differently, but I know that if I start sharing too soon, the piece loses energy. So I don’t talk about or share anything I’m writing until I have completed an entire first draft.

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Thank you to all who entered. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The drawing will be on Valentine’s day!

If you subscribe to this blog while you’re at it, I’ll put your name in twice. (Please verify your subscription to qualify.) If you already subscribe, just tell me in your comment that you’re already a subscriber and I’ll put your name in twice, too.

Many, many thanks to all of you. Good luck with the drawing and Happy Valentine’s Day!

P.S. If you are a email subscriber and want to comment, simply click on the name of the post and it will take you to the actual blog.

The word “courage” has as its root the French word, coeur, meaning heart. Attitudes of the heart are not always valued in our homes, our jobs or our world. Yet courage is a vital aspect of a creative person’s life.

The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz

Years ago I read a book by Hilda Lee Dail called Lotus and the Pool: How to Create Your Own Career (Odyssey Guides). The author wrote beautifully about the courage needed to create. Here’s what she had to say:

The profound truth is that authentic creativity is an active battle with the gods. And this conflict breeds the fear that carries with it a feeling of guilt, the fear that we are guilty of breaking the status quo. We are acting like gods. How dare we be successful.

Commitment to truth is healthiest not when it is without doubt, but when it exists in spite of doubt. This is why creativity takes so much courage. . .courage is not the absence of despair; it is rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair.

So I challenge us all to put aside our frustration and despair and do something remarkable. Exercise the courage you need to live a creative life and put your best offerings out into the world!  

P.S. If you are doing something courageous, I’d love to hear about it.

P.P.S. Sometimes commenting on a blog, if you haven’t before, can be courageous! 

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Check out my day job here. I help people be courageous.

It has been a wild experiment, to say the least. I’m not sure how purposeful, successful, or relevant this blog is in the grand scheme of things, but on most days, according to statistics, I have between 30-60 new readers. I have a small but growing list of folks who subscribe to my blog via email. Many others, obviously, who stop by from time to time. It’s not catching on like wildfire, but it’s catching on like most things in life, by blowing on the embers.

I’m not sure how many people actually order my book after visiting my blog, so that part is still an experiment, but the main benefit I’ve experienced is that I’ve met some wonderful new friends, as well as reconnected with some old ones. (You know who you are!)

I wasn’t sure what the focus would be at first. I have a lot of interests. But I have at least two passions. One is to write the best stories I can write (I am a novelist, after all) and the other is to support/inspire/encourage other artists and creative types to go for it, get unstuck and be creative, daily, weekly, monthly, always!

Thank you to all of you who read this blog faithfully, semi-faithfully, or even occasionally. I get emails from a lot of you whenever something resonates, and a few even comment on the actual blog. (I’d really like to get more comments, so if you’ve been holding back, please challenge yourself to take the next step. I never judge your comments because I am so thrilled whenever you share your thoughts.) Also, if you’d like the weigh in about what things you like to read most, I’d love to hear from you. Ask for what you want. I promise I’ll listen.  

So to celebrate my 100^th post, I’m taking out my ol’ cowboy hat (what can I say, I used to live in Colorado!) and I will put names in the hat of anyone who comments on this post. The winner will get a free autographed copy of Seeking Sara Summers (I’ll have Anne shut her eyes and draw the winner).

The drawing will be on Valentine’s day!

If you subscribe to this blog while you’re at it, I’ll put your name in twice. (Please verify your subscription.) If you already subscribe, just tell me in your comment that you’re already a subscriber and I’ll put your name in twice, too.

Again, many, many thanks to all of you, my readers. As a writer, I’d be nothing without you.

P.S. If you are a email subscriber and want to comment, simply click on the name of the post and it will take you to the actual blog.