Saturday, August 6, 2011

Writers, YOU are courageous!

This was originally posted last summer, but I thought we could all use a reminder!

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow.~Mary Anne Radmacher

I've learned that writers are courageous people.
  • If you've taken an idea, fleshed it out, then put it on paper, you're courageous
  • If you've poured your heart and soul into a story, you're courageous
  • If you've finished a manuscript, you're courageous
  • If you've offered up your work for review and critique, you're courageous
  • If you've typed a query letter and clicked send, you're courageous
  • If you've dropped a manuscript in the mail, you're courageous
  • If you've received rejections, yet continued to have faith in and submit your work, you're courageous
Is there anything you'd like to add to the list?

In the words of John Wayne, "Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway."

You, my writer friends, are very brave indeed!

31 comments:

  1. If you haven't had anything published but still answered 'I'm a writer' to the question 'what do you do?', knowing that the next question will be 'what books have you had published?' then you're courageous :)

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  2. I never thought of it that way but you're right, we really are! To face rejection every day and keep getting back out there, is truly courageous.

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  3. Thank you, Julie. I often need that reminder, because sometimes I feel like cowering in a cave!

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  4. Where's the thumbs up button?

    Thanks for the encouragement.

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  5. What an en-COURAG-ing post! Love it.

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  6. Love this post, Julie. It's a reminder that each step of the way requires at least a drop of courage. :)

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  7. Thanks for the bit of encouragement, my friend. We are pretty brave, aren't we? It isn't easy being creative, pouring our hearts out onto a piece of paper for others to judge.

    -Jimmy

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  8. I think revising and remolding your story takes courage. It's like doing plastic surgery on your child.

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  9. Great list. I've never, though, considered all those things as being courageous. Rather, I write because I must and I submit to agents because I want to share the writing that couldn't be stopped! (And then, when I wasn't able to get an agent for my first novel, I published it myself...)

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  10. So glad you posted this list. Love it! Anytime you face the blank page/screen is a courageous act.

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  11. Nice post Julie. Blogging is courageous too. And don't get me started on public speaking.

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  12. Courageous and tired! Boy, how do we do it? God bless all you mother's who write, especially if you also have a day job. Happy writing everyone :)

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  13. Geez, I must be the bravest gal on earth then.

    Thanks for propping me up, Julie! I needed it big time.

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  14. If you've decided to self-publish, even though you know some people will never consider you a real author, you are courageous.

    Thanks for the list, Julie, and the great picture of the Cowardly Lion. Maybe we could create a medal for writers, to remind ourselves of how courageous we are.

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  15. This was the perfect day for this. Thanks, Julie.

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  16. If you've given up a perfectly wonderful summer day outside and sat inside at your computer, you are one courageous human being.

    <B the courage post.

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  17. Love it! Great list and reminder :)

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  18. I love that John Wayne quote! Definitely the cowardly lion here! Great post!

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  19. Thank you for your words of encouragement!
    Time to saddle up! :)

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  20. I really do love this post. It's a great reminder for all of us:)

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  21. I think if you've received some seriously harsh critique that has made tears burn in your eyes, but have picked yourself up and continued on, you're pretty courageous.

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  22. Thanks for that, I have to do something scary most days. :0)

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  23. Yay for the cowardly lions in all of us! Courage! Now...off to do something scary. ;)

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  24. Thank you, Julie, this is beautiful. I LOVE that quote: "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

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  25. I never thought I was courageous for doing all those things. Now I do. Thank you, Julie:)

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  26. Loved the post, Julie. Yes, we are courageous people.

    Just add one more thing for writers who get trashed by critics and still keep writing.

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  27. I LOVE the quote you used :) both of them. And the picture. Pretty much everything about this post was made of incredible amounts of pure awesome. And you are right, all those things are courageous. We should celebrate how bad ass we are.

    Thanks of the post.

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  28. Thanks so much for all your thoughtful comments. We are pretty darn courageous, and sometimes we forget that fact.

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  29. LOVE this. I've read that 90% of people who are asked at conferences to send in materials never do! How sad. Be courageous, writers! Sometimes, being courageous means being different.

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