So, here it is, my first blog post on writing, and it’s about lies. I could write a book about lies, especially this obsession people have with little white lies.
I remember watching an episode of Scorpion (American drama series) in which Paige explained to Walter that it’s ok to tell a white lie if it means not hurting someone you love. You know, the kind of lie that protects a person from being hurt unnecessarily. As long as it’s a white lie, and it’s not about something important, like, say…
Ok, I have nothing.
In my book, a lie is a lie. By definition, a lie is leading someone away from the truth. It’s about giving them a false impression about a situation. Needless to say, things didn’t end well for Walter because he couldn’t tell when the white lie turned grey, then black. All these unnecessary complications!
Listen, lies are never good. White. Black. Grey. Blurred Lines. Whatever you want to call them, once you’re not telling the truth, you’re going to get into problems. The worst kinds of lies are the ones we tell ourselves because these are the ones we seem to believe unquestioningly, like “I’m only going to spend 15 minutes on social media.” Seriously? If you ever manage that feat, bottle the formula because somebody will buy that.
If you’re a writer and you’ve not yet been published, or you published one book many years ago but can’t seem to get around to writing let alone publishing another one, then I guarantee that you’re listening to your own tall tales. We tell ourselves many untruths that keep us stuck, and the interesting thing about all of this is that once you read them you will immediately recognize how untrue they are.
There are 12 of them we can identify and these are the ones I’ll be discussing in this series.
Lie #1 – I don’t have time to write.
Lie #2 – I can only write when inspired.
Lie #3 – Nobody wants to read my writing.
Lie #4 – I’ll get started tomorrow.
Lie #5 – I need an original idea.
Lie #6 – I have writer’s block.
Lie #7 – I don’t need a plan, I have talent.
Lie #8 – My writing needs to be perfect.
Lie #9 – I’ll finish this after…(insert your latest obsession).
Lie #10 – I need to build a brand first.
Lie #11 – Writing is easy when you’re talented.
Lie #12 – I don’t need an editor.
These aren’t likely all the lies writers tell themselves, but they are the 12 most common. The good news is that once you recognize the lie, you can do something about it.
I desperately wanted to title this series of articles 12 Lies Keeping You From Writing and How to Stop Believing Them but that title seemed a little too long for a quick glance. You see, I don’t believe in just pointing out issues unless I’m also giving advice on how to take action and fix them. Otherwise, what’s the point of focusing on the pain, right?
So, stay tuned, and over the next few weeks, we’ll discuss some of the darkness clouding your writing journey and some practical things you can do to bring the sunshine.
In the meantime, write every chance you get.
And, as always, happy writing.
