Participate in this real-time experiment and watch what happens.
The Pain
Sure, we all know what it’s like to receive gifts and acts of kindness from other people. It feels great. We don’t need to know the science behind it. We know it works.
Now, picture this. You are a writer, sitting at your desk trying to conjure good ideas to inspire your next great story. Sometimes the inspiration is there, and sometimes it’s not. To make matters even more complicated, sometimes you find what inspires you, write your story, but find it doesn’t engage your intended audience. As if writing wasn’t hard enough, right? Sheesh!
There are days when I pull my hair out in frustration for not being able to produce. I know I can write. I know I’m good at my craft. But, for the life of me, I can’t seem to break through the invisible yet palpable barrier. Here come those ugly feelings of self-doubt. No matter how experienced I am, it seems to find its way into my psyche. You know what I am talking about, don’t you? Perhaps you found yourself ‘here’ because you were in the non-producing mode and needed a healthy distraction, so you started doing some research on-line or browsed some of the writer’s platforms for inspiration or diversion. Are you finding a feeling of connection with fellow writers going through the same misery?
As writers (artists), we spar with this dubious antagonist daily, and we so often lose. We don’t like to lose. Being at our best and producing makes us feel that we are contributing to society. It adds value to what we are doing or creating. We identify with ourselves as an individual with talents unique to the group. We want to feel special. Well, I’m here to tell you that you are, no matter what temporary obstacles stand in the way of your writing. Watch how the phenomenon of giving and receiving helps all who are involved in the process.
The Fun
To demonstrate this, I am conducting a real-time experiment where I invite you to be a part. One of my struggles is determining what products to create to help my fellow sci-fi writers and readers. So, I seek your responses to help me determine how I can be of assistance to others. More importantly, we will all come away with a better understanding. Hopefully, this will lead to more people creating content that assists the group as a whole.
Please help by answering the following questions. It is your chance to voice your opinions, be heard, and make a difference to others. Whether you share your name and email as part of the survey is totally up to you.
The Method
So, here are the questions I am asking you to answer:
As a science fiction writer and reader,
1) What is your biggest peeve?
2) How much writing experience do you have?
3) What products/services are missing and that you wish someone would create?
4) How do you prefer to learn (watching, listening, reading, doing, or other)?
5) Please provide your name and email address?
The Reward, The Results
If you respond by midnight Wednesday, November 4, 2020, we will add you to a random drawing (conducted through random.org). The winner of which will receive a cool prize in addition to being featured in a published article! Your name and email are necessary to qualify.
I will tabulate responses for further analysis, discussion, and application for the group’s benefit.
Stay tuned!
On behalf of all of us who will be reading your responses, many thanks for your time and feedback! We’ll be right back!