I started this post with the title, "Can I do it?" What a set-up that question is. As writers, it's essential for us to believe we can do it. Yet doubt plagues even the best among us (so I'm told). I'm on a mission to confront my negativity and self-doubt whenever I feel it creeping in to my attitude. I know there are lots of trite messages out there about the power of positive thinking, but in all things trite we find a kernel of truth. We might roll our eyes, yet deep down we know the obvious: we're not likely to get anywhere close to our dreams if we don't think they could possibly come true.I look back on my recently completed MFA in Creative Writing and wonder now how I did it. One important factor was my commitment to the goal: while I was doing it I didn't doubt that I could. And neither did my friends who were doing it at the same time.
With that behind us, the real scary part has arrived. And it's this transition from student writer to writer, a transition a two-year MFA can only begin to prepare a person for, that brought back the doubt. It's this transition about which my gut instinct as I sat down to write this post was to ask "can I do it?"
And the answer to that question is: yes. I can do it. And so can you!
4 comments:
Love the pic and the message of this post. You're right--of course none of us questioned whether we would get through the MFA program, but now that we're on our own, without as firm a set of goals, it's only natural that our anxieties come up again. That's why I'm such a fan of hard and fast goals. I need to make some as far as sending things out is concerned.
Amen, sister.
I love this picture as it reminds me of my Grandmother who was in the Navy during WWII. I recommend the book - How To Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore. It is a great practical guide with lots of humor and honesty.
I really needed this post today, even though it's a month old. Down at the bottom of my cycle as I dig back into the thesis material. Okay, I can do this, I can do this. Thanks, ti
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