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The Writer's Mind Game

     It amazes me how much writing is like a mind game.  We talk about this in sports.  If you want to be the top of your sport, you have to believe that you can do it.
     Even for top athletes, this is not easy.  Thoughts come.  "It's too far.  It's too high.  You won't make it this time.  Your opponent is better than you."  When you are breaking records, you are asking your body to go beyond what it thinks it can do.  If you give in to those negative thoughts, all of your physical efforts will fall short.  You won't make it.
     You have to turn it around.  "I can do this.  I'm good at this.  I will reach my goal.  I can push harder because I have even more to give."
     Artists know about the mind game, too.  Your emotion is visible in the lines you create.  What do you think about as you portray your subject?  Whatever it is will be visible in your art.  The end goal is different (no marathons or long-jumps here), but you still have to have joy in what you do.
     Joy.
     If you love what you are writing, there is a much greater chance that, regardless of your genre, people will love reading it.  They will pick up on your joy as a writer.
     People love joy.

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