Failing is Not the End

Today, I invited a fellow writer from my author's guild to share a thought. Tanya is celebrating the release of her new novel. Here's her inspirational thought:

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett

While Beckett is a playwright, his words ring true for any writer (or artist, for that matter). No matter how perfectly I may envision a scene or a story in my mind, somewhere between my imagination and the words that form on the monitor, something is inevitably lost. As the writer, Mary Gordon, put it: "It's a bad business, this writing. No marks on paper can ever measure up to the word's music in the mind, to the purity of the image before its ambush by language." I love Beckett's quote because it gives me room to breathe in my career. It makes each rejection an opportunity to try again. It makes each less than favorable review an opportunity to work at changing someone's mind the next time.

And so I try, fail, and try again. Hopefully, with each new book I'm failing better.

Tanya Parker Mills is the award-winning author of The Reckoning. After a life abroad, she now resides in Washington with her husband, son, and two cats.
Tanya has a terrific contest going on right now at her site with lots of great prizes! http://www.tanyaparkermills.com/moleskine-monday-a-contest/

Website:  http://www.tanyaparkermills.

com

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