My Saying
I have a question for you. How has your writing been going?
- Downhill?
- In a slump?
- Stalled out?
- As good as can be expected (under the circumstances)?
- Nowhere?
As I said in my last post, writing is a strange occupation. (Novel Writing – Indulgence or Obligation?) It’s a strange business to be in. I have a saying about writers. (If I’ve said this before and you’ve read it before, play like I haven’t. It could just be a Geritol moment.)
My saying is this (and unlike some of the other quotes you find at the Be A Novelist blog site, this is truly an original):
A writer can go further on a tiny smidgeon of encouragement than any other creature on the planet.
And that’s the truth.
The List
So, if you’re in a bit of a funk today regarding your writing, I want to 
give you a few reasons to be thankful. I want to be your encourager.
- Be thankful you do not have sitting beside you on your desk, a ream of fresh clean paper ready to be rolled into your typewriter. Argh! I’m not too proud to say I remember doing exactly that.
- Be thankful that you do not have to sit on the floor with paste and scissors and actually cut out and move around bits and blocks and paragraphs of writing in order to make your edits. (We called it cut and paste. Did you really not know where that term came from?
- Be thankful you do not have to be concerned with keys jamming, ribbons fading, keys filled with ink that need cleaning, a typewriter that when moved required a crane and winch.
- Be thankful that making a correction doesn’t require tiny little bits of white-out papers. (Not liquid – that came later.)
- Be thankful that page numbering need not be done manually. Try to imagine a 200+-page manuscript that has been edited midway through and now every page must be edited. Yikes!
Love the Word: Paginate
I remember vividly how enraptured I became at automatic paginating with my first word processor. I even fell in love with word: paginating, pagination paginate. I could say it over and over in my sleep as I listened to my new dot matrix printer in my office grinding out my manuscript overnight. (Well, it used to take several days to type up the final copy; hence, overnight was an incredible miracle.)
Don’t Forget
- Oh, one more. Don’t forget to be thankful that you don’t have to sharpen your quill or fill your ink bottle. (And no, I don’t remember doing that. smile)
Be Happy; Be Thankful
There you have it fellow writers. Reasons to be thankful today. (And everyday for that matter.) I think it calls for a celebration! Don’t worry; be happy. Actually be thrilled! The 
ability to create your novel (or whatever writing project you’re working on) has never been more unencumbered!
So get busy. Shake off the doldrums and write!
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Re-release of the second book in my Tulsa Series (Tulsa Turning), originally published by Barbour Publishing in 1995, now available on Kindle and Nook. Tulsa Turning is historical fiction set against the backdrop of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. Check it out HERE!
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Are you one of those budding novelists who makes a great start but you can’t seem to finish? Then this is for you! Be A Novelist, Six-Month, Finish-My-Novel Challenge! Six full months of guidance and instruction. Guaranteed to light a fire under your novel-writing attempts and to launch you into a pattern of consistent writing! Details right here!
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