Joseph T. Riach's
INSPIRATIONS
“Security is mostly a superstitious illusion. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Seek out and welcome change. There’s nothing to fear from the unknown, only opportunities to grasp. All successful people made changes to become the person who succeeded. " - JTR
LETTER FROM A FAN
I've been asked from time to time if, as an author, I receive 'fan mail'. In my early days of writing my response was one of - "I'd just love to have a fan!" Yes, I was an unknown in the literary world. Times change though and recognition has come my way from readers of my work appreciative of what I write. Some even on this very site!
While compliments are nice - who doesn't like being liked? - by far the greater reward lies in the knowledge that what I do benefits people, and in many different ways. An example of one kind came my way recently in the form of a request. It read -
"Adored your novel, 'Too Early For A Glass Of Wine?', original and compelling. What advice would you give a young person (my son) who wants to be a writer but college did not work out for him. He is a terrible combo of lazy (taking path of least resistance) and perfectionism. How do you overcome? How do you stay motivated?"
I responded with the following.
"I could write at great length about this, but neither time nor space allows. Fact is, I have addressed your queries, one way or another, in my many books and articles. But, as regards your son specifically, I recognise him. How? Well he could be me! (as I was in youth) ... so I can give you some, hopefully valuable, pointers.
In my experience the perfectionism angle is, in part at least, a manifestation of being overly critical of others. It is necessary for your son to focus on himself and his own imperfections and, from that, learn to be forgiving. This is where it ties in with laziness - everyone is lazy regarding matters in which they have little interest. So the key in these respects is that your son must recognise his passion (more about that in a mo) then devote all his energy to it. Believe me, he'll never be lazy! Neither will he lack motivation. The combination of his desire for perfection and pursuing what he loves will see to that.
If he doesn't already have an over-riding passion, then he must find it. The best way in my view is to seek real world work experience of any and every kind. Learn to get his hands dirty. Mixing the rough and tumble of day to day existence and down to earth working people should increase his wisdom of life (essential in writing), grow his appreciation of 'imperfectionism' and, eventually, point him to his true place in life.
If that place is as a writer then he should, in his spare time from working as above, work at it, both studying the subject (a great way is simply reading other authors, seeing how they construct their work, their styles etc.) and writing articles on his impassioned topics. Blogging is a good way, and many small articles can add up to major manuscripts.
Also advertise on places such as Fiverr to ghost write, script sales and promotional copy, edit other writer's efforts etc. Apart from earning a few bucks it is a super way to develop skills. That 'great novel' will take time but writers are builders, we have patience. The skeleton comes first, the perfection later. And the real joy is in the creation not the completion.
Get your lad on these tracks and he can do well. Take a look at my work. You'll see the simplicity of my approach and my chosen style, light and slightly whimsical but with a meaningful punch. I have also written in different styles to order and done translation work too. So any work of a linguistic nature is valuable training and/or a career direction in itself.
Oh! ... don't expect to get rich writing. It can happen ... but I made my loot from other enterprises. I started writing at school, kept it up through my career and business days in pretty much the ways I've outlined, then went full time on writing in this present phase of my life. I do earn well from it though, much better than the vast majority. I have in the pipe-line a future book revealing how I do that without following the 'Amazon route' or other costly avenues. It will be an original and an eye-opener! As indeed I hope this note has been for you."
Now, a question. In my response to my 'fan', how many of the pointers, suggestions, related experiences and nuggets of advice which I have mentioned regarding life as an author do you feel could equally well be applied to anyone pursuing any profession, activity or endeavour in any situation or at any point in their lives? If you've answered, "All of them," go to the top of the class. Writing you see is no exception to the golden rule that attitude and application is everything in life. Get that aspect right and you too may soon receive A Letter From A Fan - or better still, an avalanche of them!
I am Tom Riach. I live and write in the sunny south of Portugal.
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'LETTER FROM A FAN' is an original copyright Tom Riach feature.
I hope you enjoyed this presentation and found it to be of value.
To learn more please visit me on my Author Page.
See you there! Regards, Tom.
Comments
Cheers Tom. I'm a fan of your writings always inspire me. They also have been of great benefit to me personally. What you said about them applying to any goal you're trying to acheive is true. The one thing I can say I regrett is that I didn't read your books much sooner. But I also believe that things come into your life when you're ready to receive them. It's not where you start that matters, it's where you finish.
It's always a pleasure reading your works the one word I can think of is synergy. Because it takes into account the whole person especially the emphasis you put on healthy living. If you're doing that it's half the battle. Thank you Tom.
Perfectly said Robin Robinson and I agree with your thoughts about Tom. His books are fantastic and beneficial for people to improve their lives.
Thank you Robin, your comments are not only welcome but are perceptive in themselves. Readers can learn much from what you have to say. Yours is a fine example to follow. Success without humility is no success at all - you display in what you say that you not only understand a heck of a lot about 'successful' living but that you also take on board the responsibility of doing something about it!
Thank you Tom. One of the things, like most about the message in all of your books, I've read, is that you stress the importance of working on your whole self. When you have self esteem and physical issues, it will be very hard to be successful at anything. I know for a fact that excercise and diet will do wonders to improve your esteem. But it it doesn't transfer into working on your mental, all you'll have is a beautiful body and still low self esteem. But when you're mentally and physically in your best shape, that's a huge step to success. I like the fact that constantly stress that in your writings.
I, too, have enjoyed reading your post and it is an 'eye opener'. Passion is one of the secrets to success, I had never thought of it as a 'lazy' killer, thank you, Tom.
Tom has such a way with his words and I enjoy reading all his books. There's much to gain from his experiences, and his passion for writing is so awesome.
Yes, My observation George, first of myself and then of others, is that people spend time doing those things which they most want to do - and least, to no time on those things they don't feel motivated towards. As with all things - simple!
Thank you Tom for sharing a letter from one of your fans. I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you Terri. You have indeed been a wonderful supporter of what I do.
You're blessed with a gift and talent for writing. You have such a way with words and your message comes through loud and clear so that it benefits anyone that's reading what you write. Thank you for being a SE member and here's to more great writing from you.