Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Note from a recovering "What if-er"


I used to be kind of big on the "what if's". Large portions of my day could be consumed by thinking about all the possibilities in the future. I'm a dreamer; I consider it a gift. It can also be a curse if it is not kept in check.

There were whole days that I spent worrying about some thing or another and whole days I spent dreaming about who I could become. The realization hit that I was never going to get anywhere if I kept dreaming. Writing and building a business take work. Having nifty ideas for the future is great, but they shouldn't stop you from moving forward in the present. My new thing is to write down the things that pop into my head on a notepad so that I can revisit those ideas when I'm done with whatever I'm currently working on. It has helped me a lot.

Do you have the "what if's"? How do you combat them?
photo: Marco Bellucci

10 comments:

  1. All of that is saved for Saturday morning coffee with my husband. We have detailed plans for when my writing makes us filthy rich and famous.

    Also if we win the lottery. Its really the same plan only I am busier in one of them.

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  2. Sometimes I do. And those "what-ifs" are often what motivate me to sit down and write, research, revise. They can inspire creativity.

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  3. Most of the things we worry about will never happen...it's the things we DON'T worry about that get us. Of course, that just makes us worriers worry about what we're not worrying about!

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  4. What if I could only quit wondering what if? :)

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  5. I am a big dreamer. I love imagining all sorts of wonderful things, it's the part of being a writer that fascinates me the most.

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  6. I'm BIG on the notepad...I have them in all shapes and sizes, and it really does help!

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  7. Yeah Regina, what if I never wonder what-if?

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  8. I like to use what-if scenarios as a jumping points for short stories. Although I must confess that most of these stories happily play out in my head and then disappear, never making it into my long-term memory bank.

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  9. What-if huh? I don't really use it alot. I did get to a point where I hated something in my WIP and I just couldn't get the feeling I was going for. Then something popped into my brain and I thought...the What-if...and life was good once again. :)

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