Celebrating the A to Z Blogging Challenge with quotations on the writing life.
The same spirit which makes us love the praise of men
makes us dread the threats of men. You cannot be pleased with the adulation of mankind without becoming fearful of your censure.
Charles H. Spurgeon
There’s nothing like the satisfaction that comes when a job is done well.
I have overcome the blank page. Not only that, but my awful first-draft word clutter has been tamed and even made to sing. My story isn’t perfect, but I have told it well and I like it.
But satisfaction has a dark side.
Once the book is released, there comes a subtle shift in my thinking. Pride at doing well slips into pride of validation. In other words, I have done well not because I like it, but because others do.
Thus begins the desperate scramble to maintain popularity.
In fashion, one day you’re in and the next you’re out.
Heidi Klum, Project Runway
Fame is elusive, and mass appeal is fickle. Chase them to your peril.
I cannot leave this subject without sharing Jeff Goins’ excellent article: The Truth About Going Viral: What I Did After 1 Million People Stopped By My Blog.
Er, this is Monday’s post. I had an alphabet mix-up moment on Saturday and posted Q. 🙂
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Interesting article. I had to click back to your post as your link does not open in a new window. Others might not bother – then again, they might not click the link! 🙂 Sue
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You know what, Sue, I don’t click on my own links enough to make the connection. Thanks so much for the heads-up. I dug around in Settings and fixed this. Voila, new window.
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I have to laugh at the quote by Klum. It’s so true.
No matter how vicious the commentary about “who wore it best,” or how ugly a particular style of clothing, hair, or makeup may be, once the right designer fills their runway with terrible padded shoulders, ugly mile-high waists, or granny helmet hair ALL the cool kids from LA to NYC will be wanting it.
And with the advent of social media, they will be filling the air with “how did we ever live without it” Tweets, posts, and Instagrams.
Books styles are the same. To thine own self be true.
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We were young girls, but we have pictures from the late 60’s to prove that stylin’ clothes can look remarkably silly once the styles pass from the scene.
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Boy, was Spurgeon right. You can’t revel in the praise without accepting the censure.
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