Those of you who frequent this blog realize that my critique buds and I name our months. This month was No Negative November. Absolutely NO negative talking about any aspect of our writing. At all. And we kick butt quite often if one of us breaks the rule.
Sometimes its hard to break the “I suck at synopsis writing” cycle and realize you are creating a self fulfilling prophecy. I’ve caught myself many times this month thinking “I suck at character arc” “I suck at synopsis writing” “It takes me forver to write a proposal.”
I’ve been working on turning these around.
Along those lines.. this has been a long month for me. (as evidenced by my lack of regular blog posts) A health scare (I’m fine). My youngest totalled his car (he’s fine, his friends in the car are fine). So I could look at it that I had a really sucky month…or look at how lucky I am that I am healthy and my kiddo walked away from a totalled car without a scratch. (hm, totalled appears to be correct with either one L, or two…)
…are you one of those people who looks at the glass half full, or half empty? I used to be much more negative than I am now. I trained myself to stop and look on the bright side. Stop my negative thoughts in their tracks. Turn it around. Do you consciously try to avoid being around negative people so they don’t drag you down?
No Negative November!
NNN – I like that!
I tend to be negative at times, but only when it comes to my writing. I’m positive about all other aspects of my life. I’m glad to hear things worked out positively in the end for both you and your son.
I’m more negative about work than I’d like to be, sometimes. I’d rather be writing, but I know in my heart that I’m lucky to have a stable job with a decent boss. In general, though, I try to be positive about my writing. Though sometimes I need a kick in the pants. :mad2:
I like this NNN mantra! And I flip flop back and forth between half empty and half full. It’s almost a vicious cycle I need to get off the fence post and stay on the half full side of things.
btw, the knitting pattern for the scarf I finished last night is the book Weekend Knitting. I modified it slightly though.:cool2:
Good idea re the self fulfilling prophecy. Maybe I’ll start chanting “I can write a spectacular synopsis…I CAN write a spectacular synopsis.” Oh sure people will look at me strange when I’m in public, but hey, not like that’s never happened before.
:crazy2:
Glad you and kiddo all right!
I hate negativity. It’s like this little germ that once latched on, doesn’t want to go. So, yeah, I do everything possible to avoid them. Someone from my past recently contacted me and asked if we could mend things. In the end, my decision was no. I had spent years on that negative boat and watching it slowly leak. Finally decided if I was ever going to save myself, I needed to get off. The effects of those years still plague me, and daily I work at fighting those demons, so, no, there was no way I was getting back on that boat!
Glad to hear you are all right and that your son is okay.
I drink from amber glass bottles so I don’t have to think about whether the glass if half full or half empty. 🙄
To be honest, it depends on the day of the week, what my hormones are doing, where the sun is in the sky, etc., etc. to decide if I’m an opptimist or a pessimist. Today is a negative day, tomorrow will be a positive day.
LOVE the NNN mantra. That’s great.
I sit on the fence between half-full and half-empty. Sometimes I see it one way, sometimes the other. Have been working lately NOT to be negative.
Glad your son is ok!!! And that you’re ok (health scares are never fun.)
I’ve been really bad about the No Negative thinking this month. :mad2:
Glad you and your son are okay!
I try to stay positive, but it doesn’t always work. I think a lot of the time I just roll with it and think, “I can handle this.” But when I haven’t seen my husband in awhile due to his work commitments, or I’m struggling with the kids, or it’s that time of the month, I think I get more negative.
I think I go in the “it depends” catagory. Sometimes I am the most positive person in the world. Others I wonder why I get out of bed because I suck at everything. (But I promise I’m not psycho or anything). I like the NNN though.
Oh, BTW, I was at Target the other day and thought of you because they have a bunch of Rudolph stuff. Might want to let other people in your family know.
DOH! Shoulda told me 15 days ago 😉
Where my writing is concerned, I’m really trying to curb the negativity. You know what though? That line about being really slow at proposals has come out of my mouth A LOT lately. I wasn’t viewing it as negative but it is. So. Thanks for rapping my knuckles.
Glad ya’ll are okay Kacey!!! This is a tough question. I think I’m a fence sitter too but I’m trying really hard to mak the half-full a habit.
Kacey I’m glad you’re okay. I’m the half full person most of the time. I tend to get negative when it comes to writing. Good idea to break the habit.
Glad all is well. I need someone to kick me with a “no negative month”. I am a half full person on the outside and a half empty on the inside. Yes, I need help.
I strive to be positive–it’s a fact that people who expect good things to happen are more likely to have good things happen. I recently sent out queries and I’ve been pretty good about the Rs, saying thinks like: It’s their loss; she wasn’t the right agent for me.
Yesterday I got an R and couldn’t remember who the agent was. I looked her up and realized she would be much better for two of my CPs, so I sent the info to them. :secret: How’s that for giving an R a positive twist? 🙂
Kacey, I was wondering where you’ve been. So glad everything is okay with you and your youngest. Scary stuff.
That’s great about your CPs. I try not to hang around negative people. It just drags you down. Hope NNN works out! 😀
I try not to be negative, but it does creep in more than I’d like. I’m such a perfectionist that it’s hard not to find the faults in my writing. But I keep trying, and every now and then my critique buds smack me upside the head to remind me.:mad2:
I think I’m too negative sometimes, but like you, I’ll try to change that around and see more of half-full glasses!