Monday, August 26, 2013

Musical Monday: I Have Confidence!

What will this book be like?
I wonder.
What will my sell-through be?
I wonder.
It could be so wonderful,
To be out on the shelves,
To be read.
My heart should be wildly rejoicing
Oh, why is it beating with dread?

I’ve always longed to be famous
To write things others never dared,
Now here I am facing a blank page,
Why then am I so scared?
A duke with seven siblings

What’s so fearsome about that?

Oh, I must stop all these fears,
All these worries,
If I don’t, I know I won’t write a line.
I must dream of the story I am seeking,
I am seeking the courage’s that mine.
The courage to make this book the best,

To write even when I fear it’s dreck
Show this book I’m worthy
And while I show them,
I’ll show me! So!

Courage to meet my deadline with compliance,
Face my plot holes without defiance,
Show them I’m worthy
And while I show them,
I’ll show me! So!

Let those pages spill out all their problems,

I’ll do better than my best,
I have confidence,
This book will put me to the test,
But I’ll make my agent see,
I have confidence in me!

Somehow I will impress them,
I will be romantic but sexy,
And all those readers,
Heaven bless them,
They will run to the bookstore for me
And buy me.

With each chapter I am more certain
Everything will turn out fine.
I have confidence the publishing world can all be mine
They'll have to agree I have confidence in me

I have confidence in wallflowers!
I have confidence in rakes!
I have confidence that true love is all it takes!
Besides what you see I have confidence in me!

Strength doesn't lie in talent
Strength doesn't lie in luck
Strength lies in days of persistent writing
When you write,
Write up! It’s exciting!

All I write
I give my heart to
All I write becomes my own
I have confidence
In confidence alone…

I have confidence in confidence alone!
Besides what you see I have confidence
In me!!


When you write, what do you have confidence in? And if you don't write, what do you have confidence your favorite author will deliver?

24 comments:

Maureen said...

I go up and down and all around. I have confidence in my story. My characters.

In me? Sometimes.
In what I'm doing to promote and be a success? Sometimes.

Brilliant song, Hellie!

Marnee Bailey said...

This time, I have confidence in these characters. I like them. I think they have something interesting to share.

As to my favorite authors, it depends. All of them I have confidence they'll suck me in for a few hours. I have expectations about their tones or their stories. Most of the time, I keep reading my favorites because they have proven they won't let me down. They'll tell a good story and I'll be satisfied with it at the end.

Terri Osburn said...

A little Sound Of Music to start the day. Always good for a Monday. And I can see you dancing around with that guitar case. Or maybe a computer bag?

I don't always have total confidence in me, but I have enough to keep going. That seems to be enough for now. I started reading the latest MS from the beginning yesterday and I love it. That's always a nice boost to the confidence!

Marnee Bailey said...

I think you're right. We don't have to be completely confidence. We just have to keep going. :)

SO glad you're liking your new story, Ter!

Anonymous said...

I think I have confidence in the emotion. When I'm re-reading my own work, I struggle to see the emotion, because I'm so close to it, but I've gotten consistent feedback that my writing is sufficiently angsty and emotional. So over the years, I've learned to have confidence in that fact, even when I can't see it myself.

I've also learned to have confidence in the characters, that *they* know their story, and they have one to tell, even when I can't see it yet.

I don't know about myself. Like Ter, I have enough to keep pushing myself, but not much past that. But I don't think I really need much past that, as long as I don't give up. So maybe that's it - not so much confidence in myself to succeed, but definite confidence in the fact that I WILL NOT give up.

Anonymous said...

by the way, LOVE the song Hellie. Quite inspiring ;) and catchy!

Hellie Sinclair said...

We all have ups and downs, Mo--it's important to work on having more ups than downs, or paying attention to the ups rather than the downs. :)

Hellie Sinclair said...

Marn, GOOD! It's good to have confidence in the characters; characters are why we read (IMO). :)

Hellie Sinclair said...

Terri, one day I hope to be as well-adjusted about reading through my work as you are about yours. I'm rarely as thrilled about what I write; I'm always critical. Gotta shut that evil bastard up. *LOL*

And yes, it's my computer case...

Hellie Sinclair said...

Marn, exactly as Terri says...as you recall in the movie, Maria didn't have ANY confidence...and she was bolstering herself up to have "some" confidence rather than none at all.

Hellie Sinclair said...

Hal, you do have the angst down...your characters are emotional and driven. You tell great story!

Janga said...

Love it, Hellie! I think I should make a verse of your song a daily prescription. :)

My confidence fluctuates too all the way from "Everything I write is crap" to "Damn, that's good," more often leaning toward the former. I guess I have the most confidence in my prose. But good prose isn't worth much if the characters aren't compelling and their story isn't powerful.

Hellie Sinclair said...

Janga, on the possibility of sounding narcisstic about my parody writing, I need the same daily prescription and plan to make it as well.

Prose is nothing to sneeze at; and we've all admired your characters for years...no worries, Miss Critic. Your characters are plenty compelling.

P. Kirby said...

Confidence and I are estranged. I know I'm good at dialogue, and I've got a flare for not-boring description. Beyond that...meh.

With favorite authors, I'm probably most "confident" that I'll be drawn in by their voice and characters. Confident is pushing it, because as a writer myself, I know that the nature of art is to stumble from time to time. So I try to cut the author some slack if they write a clunker.

Great poem/lyrics!

Hellie Sinclair said...

Hi Pat! You may be temporarily estranged, but you could still identify what you're good at--that's the battle! And if you're nice enough to give a beloved author some slack for the occasional clunker, you need to do it for yourself (NOT that you'd ever write anything clunky!)

Maureen said...

I remember being a book reading and Charles DeLint stated that for most authors, every seventh book is a clunker. I looked at the books I'd read of his his...and yup. Book seven was an 'eh' book

I need to write a song using the old 60s classic, 'Spinning Wheel' .... that would fit me.

Anonymous said...

Every 7th book is a clunker? How interesting! And it feels true, as well. I wonder if the same holds true for all creative endeavors (i.e., a movie director's 7th film is a flop).

Terri Osburn said...

If that rule is true, this does not bode well for the 2nd book in the next series. Crap.

Anonymous said...

You've got time, Ter. Don't panic yet :)

Maureen said...

Different series...might be different...

Terri Osburn said...

Right. Because I'm going to be the exception to the clunker rule. LOL! I highly doubt that! But at least it's nice to know it going in. I do have time to prepare. And in truth, I could write a clunker long before book 7. :)

Anonymous said...

It's also important to define 'clunker.' After all, we're talking about a book that gets a contract, gets sold, and likely still makes decent sales. Even a modest dip in sales won't be a big deal if there are six books of solid sales before and after it.

Maureen said...

True, a clunker for Terri might be a race horse for me! ;-)

Hellie Sinclair said...

Let's not start doing the "every # is a clunker"--I'm sure everyone here is going to be fine. And as Hal said, you can have a clunker and still have solid sales...as some of the clunkers written by my favorite authors. *LOL*

Just don't do 3 clunkers in a row. I've seen that happen...takes a while to make that author an autobuy again.