Perseverance Against All Odds - video

Some authors persevere by choosing subjects they can learn from. Such was the case for memoir author Anna Manning, who wrote about people she wanted to emulate in "The Leroy Tree." Her subjects had vision and explored ways to reach their destinations. She believes writers should focus on their desired end result to overcome writing obstacles. Obstacles themselves, she feels, are self-imposed and distract from your goal.
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  • Very true that obstacles are self-imposed!
  • Great advice. Thanks for reminding me to be clear about what I want the end message to be. I need to stay focused on that :)
  • Thank you Anna for your suggestion. I think that visioning where you want to go and where you want to end up..is certainly a good idea. Thank God I don't have writers block anymore. Why? because I try to create an outline and whenever I do so, the characters are formulated. They introduce themselves and we try to work things out. Sounds weird huh? I thought so at first. But really, it is like an introduction to someone new. When they get to know you, they tell you about themselves. If they feel comfortable, they'll invite you home and they become your best friend. These characters in turn really tell you where they want to go and where they want to end up....how they want to end up. If I had this conversation with Steven Spielberg and J.K. Rollins, I know they would believe me. When Oprah each ask them how they get their characters to shine..they just simply say: "They speak to me." When I heard them make that statement...I stopped dead in my tracks...I guess Oprah did too. But one day it suddenly happened to me. I was saying and doing all these crazy things. I felt like Adamae in "Ghost".(lol). It was like being removed from your regular world and into another world. It felt good. I also try to get involved with writing courses that can help me to sharpen these characters so that they can shine in and off the page. Have a nice day and thanks again for your imput:-)