Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Worthy Wednesday

Acts 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
***
Did you ever feel unworthy? Gosh, I’m sure almost every single one of us has at some point in our lifetime.

About seven years ago, I started taking this writing biz serious. I took a two-year course, then I joined WVU via the F2K program but there was this little worm crawling around inside of me saying, “You’re not worthy to be a writer.”

“What? Not worthy?”

Well, when someone tells me I can’t do something it only makes me strive harder. When someone utters, you’re not worthy. I kick them in the butt and send them on their way, thank you.

I’ve been a writer almost all of my young life, and I continue to reach for an obtainable goal of being the writer I always dreamed of becoming. I read something today from a fellow writer, she said, “Long after I’m gone, my words and my writing will still be alive.”

Isn’t that the truth? This is the very reason I get all the words I can out there to be seen. When someone googles, Joni Zipp, I don’t want them to find nothing of substance, I want them to get a clear picture of who I am and what legacy I choose to leave behind.

My writing is my life. Money or no money, this craft has carried me through my pain and sorrows, filtered the sunlight so my world remains bright, sheltered me from harm, and has   made something bigger than even I imagined.

In a world where get rich quick schemes thrive, an earth where we tear down instead of build up, in a conscious where the ‘me’ factor is more important than the ‘you’ factor, we lose something of genuine beauty.

I’m not here writing for me, I’m giving to you all that I am, all that I choose to be, and all of my dreams. You know what?

I AM WORTHY!

6 comments:

Steven said...

You're good enough, you're smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!

joni said...

Thanks Al!

June said...

Joni -- YOUR ARE WORTHY! And all your words are GIFTS to the rest of us.

...and I said something similar in my post today....about our words living after us.

:)

joni said...

Gosh June...who did you think I was referring too???

I read your post today. :)

Thanks for popping in! Miss your visits busy woman. :)

Tahlia said...

I was doing an author interview the other day and one of the questions was *Which aspects of the work you put into the book did you find most difficult?

My answer was
'It was difficult at first to know if the idea was good enough to be worth pursuing. I was also terrified of it not being good enough, which made early criticism difficult.

The next question was
Why do you think this was so?

My answer
A lack of confidence in my ability as a writer.

The point being that all authors, in fact all artists, wonder if they're good enough. I decided that I would become good enough. Three years of hard work later, my YA fantasy Novel, 'Lethal Inheritance' is good enough to score a top Australian agent and I'm on my way to publication.

So keep at it. You write well. Now make it as good as it can be.

If you're interested in YA fantasy, you might like to take a look at ch1 of my novel. You’ll find it at
http://publishersearch.wordpress.com

As another emerging writer, you might also find some of my posts interesting. I'm putting one up on dealing with rejection soon.

joni said...

Thank You Tahlia!

Great advice from a soon to be published author! Congratulations! :)

I also find that writing friends are more critical of one's work and bluntly honest, too.

I never had support of my writing as a youngster, but since I've found a great community of writers and authors, my writing has grown and become a work of art.

I'll look at your postings gladly.

Thanks again!