Stop #22 of The Writer Mama Two-Year Anniversary Blog Tour Giveaway!

What fun ... my blog was chosen to be part of "The Writer Mama Two-Year Anniversary Blog Tour Giveaway"! So, enjoy this guest post, with great information from Christina Katz, author of "Writer Mama" and "Get Known Before the Book Deal" ... AND don't miss your chance to win her book, "Writer Mama", by answering the question at the end of this post! Enjoy!

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The Writer Mama Two-Year Anniversary Blog Tour Giveaway!

Post #22: The Perils of Book Writing: Part Two

Continued from Part One (http://zookbooknook.blogspot.com/2009/03/writer-mama-two-year-anniversary-blog.html)

Mental Kung-Fu

Yours

If fear is the biggest threat to your emotional health while writing a book, then negativity is the biggest danger to your mental health. Negativity comes in many forms: thoughts we think about ourselves, thoughts we think about others, thoughts we think about the world, and thoughts we don’t even know we have about ourselves, others, and the world. So needless to say, when you are under the pressure of writing a book, you definitely want juice up your positive attitude.

When you find yourself thinking, for example, “I feel like I’ll never finish this book,” rebuff it with constructive action like sitting down with a calendar and scheduling your writing time backwards from your deadline. Then you can say, “If I stick to my writing schedule, I can make my deadline,” and know from your observations that it’s true.

On the other hand, watch out for ungrounded optimism like, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll make my deadline,” if you haven’t actually invested the time and energy to plan your course.

Theirs

When it comes to other people, things get a bit trickier. For the sake of brevity, I’ll over-simplify. Let’s say there are three kinds of people you’ll encounter when you are up to your eyeballs in book writing: folks who think it’s great, folks who aren’t that interested, and folks who are negative.

Which group of people do you think can provide the most wind beneath your wings during your book writing process? Of course, it’s the positive people. But if you are like most writers, you also have some indifferent or negative people in your life. How could it be otherwise? So you’ll want to learn to monitor how much energy you have to expend when you are around certain people.

For example, if you are absolutely exhausted every time a family member asks you another slew of questions about your book, then maybe that person is really not as supportive as you may have thought. Once you determine that someone isn’t really that supportive, don’t try to change them. Just improve your boundaries. Next time this person starts up with a long list of questions, try changing the subject to a topic that doesn’t drain your energy. Try something that is interesting to you both. And don’t expect support from that person, and then you won’t be disappointed when you don’t get any.

Ours

Creative careers have a bizarre status in America. We seem to have a collective love-hate relationship with the arts. I believe that even in its most practical execution, writing is an art. It’s a business and an art. We are used to business people but we’re not as comfortable with artists. A lot of silly mythology also surrounds art and artists. Try not to fall prey to any of the ego traps that trip up artists.

Anyone can do art. Anyone can become an artist. And artist doesn’t mean “exempt.” So if you want to be a writer and therefore an artist, remember, it’s just another role you play in life, not the only role.

With more people becoming creators, I think we can look forward to facing our collective shadow around the arts in the upcoming years. In the not so distant future, everyone will be an artist and artists will turn just about everything you can imagine into an art form. In the meantime, a book like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way can help anyone confront and transform personal myths about creativity and art.

[To be continued tomorrow…]

Today's Book Drawing: To enter to win a signed, numbered copy of "Writer Mama", answer the following question in this blog's comments:

Negativity. How do you deal with it in yourself, others, and in our culture?

Thanks for participating! Only US residents, or folks with a US mailing address, can participate in the drawing. Please only enter once per day.

Where will the drawing be tomorrow? Visit http://thewritermama.wordpress.com/ to continue reading the rest of the Writer Mama story throughout March 2009!

Writer Mama, How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids by Christina Katz (Writer's Digest Books 2007)

Kids change your life, but they don't necessarily have to end your career. Stay-at-home moms will love this handy guide to rearing a successful writing career while raising their children. The busy mom's guide to writing life, this book gives stay-at-moms the encouragement and advice they need including everything from getting started and finding ideas to actually finding time to do the work - something not easy to do with the pitter-patter of little feet. With advice on how to network and form a a business, this nurturing guide covers everything a writer mama needs to succeed at her second job. Christina Katz is also the author of the newly released "Get Known Before the Book Deal, Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Author Platform" (Writer's Digest Books 2008).