Facing Adversity

“Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.”

― Zig Ziglar

Sometimes aspiring writers feel like the path to publication is simply too much to bear, people don’t get the story they’re trying to tell and it’s all just too difficult.  They feel like giving up on their book right now.

I’ve had more than one day like that myself.  I get it.  It takes time to learn the craft, even when you are a born storyteller.

Many times, you’ll find people with wonderful stories they are eager to share, who can’t get a break and don’t get much inspiration from their family, friends, or their community.  Is there a solution?  Yes, there definitely is a solution.

Take the time to learn the craft.

It’s a long hard road, and takes some longer than others but in the long run, it’s worth it.  Have you ever heard the adage “you must know the rules  to break them”.  And it’s absolutely true.

It’s worth the time, energy, focus and dedication to learn the craft you need to know in order to tell a story that starts outside the box.  Those stories after all, are the ones that sell.  They’re the books we put on the keeper shelf.  They’re the books we all long to write.

So, when you spend your time learning the craft and then go forward to test the rules and push on the boundaries of the accepted limits of your chosen genre, don’t be discouraged by the naysayers , punctuation police, grammar gurus and assorted others who scream “You can’t do that in a (fill in the blank) novel!

Yes, if you know the rules, and execute them with style and grace, you’ll likely get away with a lot when pushing genre boundaries.  But like the rules, you must know the boundaries first.

The road you choose when you break the rules is a toughie, and believe me it’s filled with adversity.  But don’t succumb to dropping down the pothole of the powerful whether it be grammar police, genre guardians or rabid renegades of the Plotter/Pantser wars.

Fiction is, after all, fiction.  By its very nature it is untruths woven into tales meant to entertain, engage and be passed on.

So, by all means know that the adversity delivered by naysayers is just another road bump, and if you know the rules before you break them, you’ll much more likely be successful.