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Personality Traits of a Real Writer
by
Julie Hood
All writers are creative types, with cluttered desks, and messy piles,
right? To be a good writer, one lives on coffee and stale potato chips
only coming up for air when the book's done, right?
Maybe.
Or maybe we as writers have convinced ourselves that this is how a
"real" writer acts.
Writers spend so much time trying to determine when they will be a
"real" writer. Just like the stereotype that all accountants wear green
eyeshades, the stereotypes about writers persist whether they are
accurate or not.
RIGHT-BRAIN VS. LEFT-BRAIN
Writing is generally considered a creative "right-brain" activity.
However, you don't have to turn off the left-half of your brain to be a
writer.
The
best writers learn the secrets of when to use their
right-brain and when to use their left-brain.
The most successful writers realize that writing is a business, and
just like any other business, a certain amount of organization and
timeliness is required.
The
best writers can read their mood. On creative days, they crank out the
pages to their novel. On left-brain days, they send out invoices, clean
out their files, and clean off their desks.
MESSY VS. ORGANIZED
Certain personality types crave "messes." The clutter makes them feel
comfortable.
But it
also eats away at their writing time since they
spend it searching through piles of papers and old half-eaten
sandwiches.
The secret for the messy writer is to confine the messes to a "messy
zone." The messy zone is limited to one shelf in an office or the
basket next to a reading chair.
The
mess is still there for the comfort factor, but it doesn't take over.
PROCRASTINATOR
The procrastinating writer writes the book but never sends the
manuscript. Their brilliant ideas pile up, but they never send a query.
There's always a better time…later. Unfortunately, the procrastinator
never feels the joy of success.
The procrastinator needs rewards, and lots of them. By planning
wonderful rewards for simple acts, the procrastinator realizes the best
time to write isn't later. It's right now.
PERFECTIONIST
The perfectionist writes the book but never finishes it. They are
constantly revising, editing and reworking. This time eater takes away
the fun of writing.
Since
nothing is ever good enough, what's the point of writing anything?
The perfectionist needs positive feedback and reinforcement. When they
hear others say, "This is really good. You should submit it," they can
silence the inner critic that says, "You could make it sound better."
What is a real writer? It's actually anyone who puts words to paper and
sends them out into the world.
And
while anyone can sit down with a word processor, only real writers
overcome the personality traits that could sidetrack them.
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Want to learn more? Visit
http://www.organizedwriter.com?src=a103
Julie
Hood is the author of "The Organized Writer: 30 Days to More Time, More
Money and Less Frustration," a new ebook with a roadmap for combining a
writing career with the rest of your life. She manages the
OrganizedWriter.com web site and writes Writer-Reminders, a weekly
newsletter for writers. Newsletter subscribers receive a free ebook,
The Sidetracked Writer's Planner. When she isn't writing, she
sneaks in cleaning house around a busy household with two children, her
husband, and two avid golfers.
Copyright 2002 (c) Julie Hood, Finally Organized LLC. All Rights
Reserved. Reprinted with permission.
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