My hubby is my hero! WordPress ate the Simmer Starters today instead of posting it, but he resurrected it from the request to the server with his awesome web developer skillz. 😀
Simmer Starters this week: overcoming perfectionism, encouragement in good works, media pro-choice bias, and options to consider if your writing career looks like a failure.
Three Little Words to Overcome Perfectionism (Modern Mrs. Darcy) – “When perfectionism prevails, it’s not pretty. It looks like me being critical, uptight, and generally not fun to be around. It looks like constant decision paralysis: if I can’t tell what the absolute, unquestionable best option is in a given situation, I’ll do nothing—except fret about it.” Boy, I can relate. Good advice here! I’ve actually been trying to fight perfectionism in a similar way already, but didn’t have words for it. So this was very helpful.
The Fastest Way to Get Unstuck (Melissa Camara Wilkins) – Another great post to help combat perfectionism. This one sings the praises of the little word “yet.”
Ready for Good Works (Nancy Ann Wilson) – Encouragement to keep at good works, even when we are weary.
Looking for Abortion Truth in Big Media (Samuel James) – “Instead of constantly crying foul when journalistic bias manifests itself … I think conservatives would be better served by explaining that bias is inevitable because human beings are inherently selfish and oriented towards interpreting the world in a way that exonerates them and vilifies their opponents. That’s human nature, and human nature stinks; a sentiment which is, by the way, a beginning point of all traditionalist thought. But sometimes we are confronted with such naked, aggressively obvious journalistic mischief that to not call it out would be to bury our heads and consciences in the sand.”
Post “Meh” Debut – Your Options (Natalie Whipple) – This post is a little discouraged in tone, but might be helpful to authors who feel like their work has flopped and their writing career is hopeless. I appreciate that it offers “not being a writer anymore” as an option. We tend to talk like “once a writer, always a writer,” but why does that have to be the case? Do we set the same standard for other lines of work? Why is writing treated like a destiny and those who take breaks from it labeled “wannabes” or told they aren’t really writers? If a plumber decides to go back to college to become something else, do people rally around him and say, “It’s okay. We know someday you’ll get back to plumbing!” 😛 Just random thoughts. This post simmered for me. (And not because I’m thinking of quitting writing! Just because it had some good things to consider.)
[…] Simmer Starters – August 29, 2015 […]