Colour Outside the Lines

Hello, dear reader, how are you doing on this amazing, moonlit night?  Seriously Toronto, I forgive you for the harsh winter you put me through for the moonful nights that you are sending my way. The moon looks picture perfect tonight!

It's full and a little hazy. The dark, thin clouds have slithered over it, enunciating the mystical and the magical potential of the moon.

It's breathtaking!

The only thing missing is a werewolves with abs.

Haha, I joke (not really).

Anyways, dear reader, the writing update for you is that I am currently STILL in the middle of editing, which means two things. One: It's a lot of action for me and two: everyone else just sees me parked in front of a computer screen all day, typing aimlessly.

But it's not aimless.

I am changing so many things: sentences, dialogues, transitions, character development etc.

So you see it's a lot of work for me and I can vouch for the progress that I am doing, but you, dear reader, you see nothing.

All you see is a promise of a great, upcoming novel which will be released sometime early next year and all you can do is wait for it.

Wait for me to produce some tangible results for you. Fear not, dear reader, you're not the only one waiting. The people in my life, my family, my friends, my students, and my impatient dreams, we are all waiting for the day where I will stand in front of you with a visible copy of my novel.

And that is where trouble sits in.

People start suggesting that while "I wait" for my novel to be published I should "do something with my life" and it is frustratingly hard for me to explain to you that I am doing something with my life. I am writing.

The thing with creative processes is, dear reader, that they come at their own pace and their success depends on your approval. I cannot rush my words, I cannot simply show you something that is yet to be, because I need time to create it and perfect it to the image that is in my head.

It is hard for people to accept that. They want immediate results, results they can see. What you cannot see is my constant movement with social media, my ideas for my second book, my editing process, my publishing concerns, my writer's block, my 3 am editing, my research for an unknown industry, and the list goes on and on.

It's stressfully nerve wrecking.

And it is probably why people are so scared to detach themselves from conventional jobs.

 Don't get me wrong, we need the doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers, nurses, consultants and dentists. They are absolutely essential to us and we need them to tend to our daily needs. As long as the human exists he/she will need to be taken care of and conventional professions provide that.

Creative professions, on the other hand, come after the basic needs have been met. For example, I read for leisure. I will not be concerned with Lisa Genova's upcoming novel if I don't have a roof over my head or I will not enjoy reading her brilliant words if my gums are bleeding. Therefore, it is safer for me to take the conventional route than the creative one because conventional will always be in demand.

But, some people are not conventional. They are born to colour outside the lines and despite trying to fit themselves into conventions they cannot do so. And then comes the really sucky part, dear reader, they feel like failures.

They will be scared to be creative, to dare to be different.

I know I am.

So, what gets me through? What keeps me fastened to my dream?

The answer is simple: Love, support and belief.

And all of that comes primarily from me. I love myself for creating these blogs for you, I am supportive of myself when I have bad writing days and I believe in my dreams no matter what anyone says.

Of course, family love is always a bonus, but the point is, dear reader, you cannot expect someone to take a chance on you when you won't take a chance on yourself. Your hesitance, your fear and your lack of belief shows. It really does.

You need to let go and invest in yourself.

Trust yourself, dear reader, and strengthen this belief inside of you: You have the power to be unconventionally successful and you will do all that it takes to get there.

Stop comparing yourself to conventional success because creative success is measured differently. It takes longer to be actualized.

So tell me, dear reader, are you worth the wait?

And if the answer is yes, then share this blog, and go and take the first step towards your dreams.

Because, trust me, dear reader, you are worth it.

isheeza