BEING BORN A DOG BY GUEST C. HOPE CLARK

"Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement."  
Charles M. Schulz

Yes, we're all born with many factors determined for us. We are citizens of a particular country, belong to a certain race, are one gender or another.

We often think of successful writers as people born into the profession. They miraculously landed in the laps of agents and made it big. Luck worked in their favor. They had one fabulous idea that catapulted them into fame.

But us? We are normal, routine, mundane. Sure we're creative, but what are the chances we can find that remarkable opportunity that changes our lives as writers? Your answer determines which category you fall into:


1. One day that great idea will happen, and I'll write it.
2. I have good ideas, but nothing great.
3. I have ideas, and it's up to me to write them great.
4. I'll write until my ideas become great.


We don't like where we live? We move.
We don't like our hair? We cut and color.
We don't like our profession? We change.
We don't like our spouse? We divorce.


Yet...it's amazing how we don't change our outlook on how to write as easily as we alter the rest of our lives.


To be great, you have to think great. Not so-so, not maybe-good, not half-baked. No publishing until you think you have gold in your hands.


In case you haven't realized it yet, you become great by fighting to be great. You envision greatness at the end of your tunnel. You don't publish and HOPE someone likes it. You write it knowing thousands of people WILL like it from all you know about your genre, your platform, your voice.


You may be born a dog, but nothing says you can't be the best darn dog in town. Whether you write brilliantly, market like a genius, or tap perfectly a subject that's selling hot as firecrackers, you excel because you decided to excel...and not settle for being just a dog.

Hope Clark
http://www.fundsforwriters.com/
THE BLOG - http://hopeclark.blogspot.com/

TWITTER- http://twitter.com/hopeclark
FACEBOOK- http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark

Thanks to Hope Clark for letting me share her editor's message from a Funds For Writers newsletter. Hope is a lovely woman, dog owner, and champion of underdog writers. (Pun intended, sorry.)

Pictured is Hope with her blind and deaf dog, Dixie, at Dixie's recent 15th birthday party. After a steak to celebrate, Dixie is reported to have settled down for a nice snooze.

Guest Hope Clark Advises Writers About Themselves

Hope Clark and her dog Dixie
Although mostly blind and deaf, Dixie loves a drive

Hope Clark is the energy behind the newsletters Funds For Writers and Funds For Writers Small Markets out of South Carolina, which are received by a large network of writers. Each week she offers both paying and merely promotional markets for writers, along with terrific career advice. Here is one of her colums that resonated with me, reprinted with her permission.

I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF

Writers seek validation first and foremost. New or seasoned, we hang on feedback. We write and edit, but we fear venturing off on errant tangents, writing words that don't mean squat. So we spend countless hours reading websites, blogs, magazines, and books. We endure hours of misery in critique groups, sometimes walking away with gems, other times with empty hands and bruised egos. What we wouldn't give to have the guts to waltz into a room of readers with our book, shaking it, standing before the crowd to say, "This is a story you'll never forget." And really mean it.

This business, however, is wrought with naysayers. Funny, but it's usually those who break one little strategic rule along the way who gets noticed. Agents and publishers want someone fresh, but want what has always worked, too. That's why it's so difficult to give them what they want. They aren't sure what it is. They just know it when they see it.

Wouldn't it be nice to be comfortable in yourself . . .and your writing? Let's find some suggestions that may
help you on that journey in nailing your comfort zone.

1. Write . . . daily. Each day takes you closer to your true voice. There are no shortcuts. It takes thousands
of words to reach that voice that stands for you, and you alone.

2. You are unique. No one is like you. No one has your voice, stories or characters. Embrace that individuality. No one can offer the world what you have.

3. Everyone doesn't have to like you, to understand you. Sometimes the mysticism becomes your strong suit. Your task is to know when to use that magic.

4. Practice makes perfect. Only you can know when your work is polished well enough to present to the masses. If you aren't sure, it's not ready. That little voice that makes you wonder, is trying to tell you something.

5. Persistence gains more ground than creative inspiration. Be the tortoise, slow and steady, always moving toward the goal. A hot idea today might be a dud two months from now. Love being alone with yourself, working through the words.

6. Whether you receive positive or negative feedback, be selective in what you take to heart.

Bottom line . . . writing is all about your decisions, not someone else's. You will have hundreds of decisions in a writing career, but only a tiny number of them are not completely in your hands.

Hope Clark

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/
THE BLOG - http://www.hopeclark.blogspot.com
TWITTER - http://twitter.com/hopeclark
CONSULT WITH HOPE - http://www.fundsforwriters.com/ConsultHope.htm
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/chopeclark

Thanks so much, Hope. Great advice!