Think Like a Shark
I watch Shark Week almost every year. And I think we can learn a lot from them as authors.
"What do sharks have to do with writing?" you may be asking yourself right now, and I don't blame you. It's a nutty idea with no seeable correlation.
But I want to talk to you about one trait that sharks possess that writers need to adopt. For better or for worse, sharks are all in when they hunt. They don't hold back when they decide to go after some unsuspecting creature.
And us writers need to adopt that mentality when it comes to writing and pursuing our dreams.
How many times have you thought about sending your poem or story to a publisher only to back out at the last second? To post something on your blog? Maybe you've started writing your NaNoWriMo novel only to quit after a few days, thinking, I'll get this done next year.
Whatever the reason is, you still have an unfinished or unpublished manuscript collecting dust, waiting for you to do something with it. And if you really want to fulfill your dream as a writer, you need to be all-in on making that dream a reality.
So don't make excuses, as I did last Sunday (remember I said I might not have time to write for the blog?). Set aside the time and write. Even if it's absolute crap, at least you're working one step closer to your dream.
Putting off making an author website or building a social media following? Don't delay. Get it done yourself or by hiring someone to do it for you. And then keep putting content up for your followers to enjoy.
Think of it this way:
According to Miami University, surface shark attacks have a 48 percent success rate. But every time the shark launches an attack, it goes in at full force. If it decides only to put in half of the effort, it's not going to chow down.
So why are some of us only putting in half the effort? If it doesn't work for sharks, it won't work for us.
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