Reading. I’ve read two really great books in the last week…and both of them left me thinking…”I’d never get away with that.” Not that the books were bad by any stretch, they were wonderful.

But in one…there are little bits of worldbuilding just sort of tossed at me-the-reader almost randomly. And in another…the ending was so fast it seemed unbelievable.

So I decided something. Once again, I’m listening too much to Other People. Lemme digress here a second:

Other People have Good Intentions. Other People want you to succeed, and think they have the reason why you aren’t.

But they are not ME. They don’t live in my head, my house, or with my particular muse.

The problem with these Good Intentions is that at some point…they become Voices in my Head. Not characters, who live and eat and breathe (and in some cases die) up in my noggin. No, these become the whispery little voices whose subtext is always…”you can’t do this”.

Please keep in mind, this is NOT what those people have EVER said. it’s how the most defeatist part of my self twists their words.

And I need to stop listening. I know my process now. I’ve been obsessed with process for going on three years. I know how I write, I know what works for me, and I know how to get the most from my words.

So…reading is hard, but it’s therapeutic. Because I can read those books and see where authors I love, authors who are selling very well, authors who are brilliant…break some of the same rules I do.

We’ll see how long this sticks.