Nothing makes you realize just how normal it is to hem and haw, procrastinate and worry, more than knowing a few folks who — even as the same crap nibbles at their heels — still write book after book, story after story.
Couldn’t agree more. Funny thing is, I counted Kris in that crowd. Why? If you haven’t read his short, Gormek of the Thousand Tongues, you really should. It reminded me a lot of “thick” fantasy – a short story, sure, but with the same kind of depth and atmosphere as an Enge book.
If you feel this progression-stopping lizard fear tickling the back of your brain, do yourself a favor and mingle a little with the right crowd. Getting stuck in your head is a bad thing at those times. Definitely avoid the downers — the artsy writers who moan about how hard their novels were, how much time they put into every sentence, how tough it is to be a writer — but rub elbows via Facebook, email, stalking via binoculars and recording devices planted in that person’s bathroom, with a few writers. Those oddballs who flip their lizard-brain the bird and write three novels in half a year. Those champions of whatever publishing style they love, be it traditional or indie, who spend more time writing than they do measuring and arguing the merits of this path or that, this online store or that, agents being wonderful things or vile gremlins who steal your money.
Like I said, I was surprised to see Kris write this because all of this is what he, Fletcher, and a few others have been to me. Anyway, you should go read the whole thing, because it’s more meaningful than my trite little commentary..
Fear is Fun! or Hanging Out with the Right People – K. L. Neidecker: The Blaagh