After five months of pure slog, Saturn, the ‘old Devil’, the task master in everyone’s chart, has finally finished his retrograde motion, Stationing Direct as of today. When Saturn turns retrograde, his energy commands us to review, rethink and redo, sometimes over and over. So if life or particular efforts have seemed stuck or full of chronic frustrations in a particular area since early February, making it seem as if you’ve been walking up the down escalator; this is no accident. Most likely it’s the energy of this retrograde with specific purpose in mind and our best interests at the heart. As I’ve said in prior posts, the energy of a planet’s retrograde is to encourage us to go inward, to contemplate, consider, revise. In other words, a course correction.
Highly respected evolutionary astrologer, Steven Forrest, identifies among Saturn’s ‘jobs’ as representing development of self-discipline, self-respect, faith in our destiny AND making peace with solitude. I can’t think of any other phrases that hit the nail on the head when it comes to critical characteristics required in the perseverance of writing, regardless of whether we are speaking about writing fiction or non-fiction. I may have mentioned this in a prior blog, but it bears repeating here, I think. Years ago, I had a very well-known astrologer and author tell me, ‘writing is the loneliest, hardest, work you will ever do. Nearly forty years later I have to agree, this is as true today as it was when I was just starting out as an undergraduate.
Ironically, as if right on time, this morning I received a blog posting notice from Susan Lakin’s ‘Live Write Thrive’ blog on which she posted an article from her guest, Brian Feinblum who blogs at Book Marketing Buzz. The title of this post is, 16 Tips on How to Survive and Thrive as a Writer.
Brian’s article is excellent and incredibly timely for those of us who ‘write to thrive’ within Saturn’s recent energy framework over the last five months. What follows is Brian’s brief introduction and his first five points of how to survive as a writer. However, I encourage you to read his full article at Susan’s blog. It’s ‘well worth the read’!
Today, people believe they can social network their way to the top, that they are one witty tweet or one viral video away from making millions. They want to be on a reality show, they want to blog their way to fame, they want to create the next Facebook—but they fail to put in the hard work that is needed.
Those involved in book publishing seek to cash in their lottery ticket. Everyone who writes a book has the hope—even the expectation—that they will have a best-seller on their hands. Who is there to give them a tissue box when their Book Scan numbers don’t register beyond a blip of sales? But, reality aside, here’s the pep talk all writers will need at some point in their careers. Put aside the need for hard work, luck, connections, great writing, hiring professional help, etc.
The 16 Tips for Thriving
- Always believe in yourself. You have something to offer others, something worth sharing, something unique and special.
- Know the experts are not always right. There is rarely one singular way to do anything. Find your own style and way to do what you need to do to succeed.
- Never accept defeat. Change course, yes. Give up, no. Admit you made an error or mistake but don’t throw in the towel.
- Learn from others. Copy the habits of successful people when it suits you but don’t be just like them. The world needs you—not a replica of someone else.
- Realize you can improve every aspect of your writing, editing, publicity, marketing, sales, distribution, etc. Push the bar higher and keep reaching beyond your comfort zone.