Friday, May 23, 2014

Finding the Write Path

Hey all! I stumbled across this blogfest a while ago and thought it'll be a nice, inspiring activity to take part in. Except, well, here I am on Friday and I'm not quite sure what to say. So instead, I'm going to just start and let the dice fall as they may.

Carrie, you're welcome to use my letter. :-) 

Info: 

Name: Misha Gericke
Writing Blog: http://sylmion.blogspot.com

Right. Now it's time for me to get into the letter... wish me luck!



Hey Kiddo,

I've been grappling with what to put in this letter and.. Honestly I still am.

See, this is a letter to tell you about stuff you could do better, should do better. Things you should jump for and things you should change.

And you'd think there'd be a lot. I mean, you're thirteen and I'm twenty five.

Except there's not.

The book you're writing right now... It's going to get lost when your parents rip out the mother board and insert your grandmother's so she can write. And that's okay. Because you're going to write it again, and lose the rewrite when you're twenty two. And that's also okay because you'll rewrite it again and realize you learned so much that you would have been embarrassed if that book had actually been published.

You're going to write seven false starts before writing the book you'll publish. And your publisher will turn out to be more than a little sociopathic. But that's good, because you'll learn that no amount of validation is worth the pain and fear that comes with the thought that you'll lose the rights to a book you worked on for seven years. To any book, for that matter. And you'll act accordingly.

You will learn that you never finish first drafts to books if you plan them. You'll also learn to cling to writing because that's what keeps you sane. You'll learn to be (even if I say so myself) amazing at writing and editing, and you're going to learn it all by going through all these bad things that happened.

You're going to be strong. And we will succeed. 

And all of this will be thanks to the lessons you learned. So do stupid things. Dare. Find what doesn't work so you can work out what does. Keep striving. Keep going. And yes, do keep getting pissed off at negative people who act like they know about writing when all they've ever written was an e-mail.

Because you are better than what they say. And you knew the day you started writing the thing that I still know now:

You're awesome, and awesome people write awesome books.

Love,

Me.

25 comments:

  1. You certainly learned so much through your bad experience.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yep, bad experiences teach more than the good ones.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's a very inspiring letter. You've faced a lot and overcome, resulting in a stronger, better equipped you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. My nightmare is I'm going to lose my manuscript after I write, The End. I guess you have that experience. Glad you didn't throw in the towel. Isn't is great to be able to write to yourself? A great letter.

    ReplyDelete
  5. " You'll also learn to cling to writing because that's what keeps you sane. "

    Can I get an amen?! :) Love reading these Write Path posts!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have been through so much and those experience make you the strong person and imaginative writer that you are...

    Happy to hear you survived that drama and that you're moving on with the power of a locomotive.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Awesome letter to yourself! Writing keeps me sane too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's probably a good thing we don't know what's going to happen in the future. Where would we be if we'd never got to make our mistakes?

    ReplyDelete
  9. You've learned lessons the hard way, but it's good to see you still strong and positive!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Misha,

    Of course, no chance of me stumbling upon some blog hop! :)

    Misha and through adversity, comes renewed determination. The belief started from within. Inspiring words and I know that inspirational momentum shall beat within your writing heart.

    A lovely weekend to you, dear Misha.

    Gary :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love this letter! Especially that last little bit! This blogfest is so motivating and inspiring. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Now THAT is dedication! :) Thanks for participating, Misha!

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is amazing I love it. I especially love that you tell your younger self not to change anything, because it's all stepping stones towards making it to where you are now. Yay you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. There is a powerful unspoken message through all this - the overriding need to stay positive, whatever!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like your determination Misha. It shines through. Inspiring.

    ReplyDelete
  16. A very uplifting letter indeed. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Eep. Okay, I've rewritten before ... but never from scratch. I think I'd die, or kill someone, if I had to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  18. We've all had our bang-ups along the way but somehow we make it! No path to publication is without a few obstacles. Those who get published without those obstacles usually find them after the fact. But surviving the challenges makes us stronger!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Oh my goodness. You've have been tenacious! Lost the whole book twice? Wow. You're a trooper. Great things are meant for those who leap the bigger hurdles (cause it makes a better memoir you see ;)

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think I would cry if I lost a book twice. You are definitely awesome, Misha!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a journey, Misha! Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I love to read what you think.

Feel free to ignore the check-box saying "Prove you're not a robot." My word verification is off, but I moderate comments to posts older than two weeks.