"Rob
Parnell is the world's foremost writing guru."
2008 & 2009 Writers Digest Best Writers' Site
2010 Critters Best Writers' Info Site
THIS WEEK'S ARTICLE:
What's That
Knocking Sound?
Rob Parnell
We've been busy these last couple of weeks
going through staff applications and we've just started
conducting interviews.
It's fascinating to view so many different people and
gain some appreciation and insight for their very
different lives, hopes and dreams.
As a writer, coming into contact with new people
obviously fires my imagination and makes me think of
characters I may not have considered - or imagined -
before.
Be that as it may... (one of those strange cliches that
doesn't appear to say what you think it means.)
It's also interesting to me because the whole experience
of expanding my horizons has made me re-evaluate where I
want to take my writing business in the future.
The other night I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about
what I would do if I had a huge staff of helpers,
consultants and writers. What would be possible? Just
what could I achieve, I thought, if I had a large
corporation of people to run, occupy and motivate?
Instead of just trucking along with a few websites and an
off line writing school, what else could I do?
It was a liberating moment - even exhilarating to think
of all the wonderful things that might be possible given
the resources.
I realized there were no end of possibilities. I could
write hundreds of books, publish them all, get them into
shops and spend a fortune or promotion and marketing...
I could sell franchises, fund charities, give grants to
artists, make movies and TV series. I could set up
writing schools in every town in the world. I could feed
the starving, terraform Mars...
Heady stuff indeed.
And I realized later that this was a lesson too.
That we're often restricted by our own limited world
view. And that in order to grow we sometimes need to not
only use our imaginations but also to begin taking some
action.
I remember reading in The Secret that we
should imagine our goals as though they'd already
happened. But, try as I might, I never felt I was
more than kidding myself - that I was merely play-acting
and couldn't really grasp any real sense of having
something I didn't actually possess.
Maybe my goals were too large, or too nebulous. I don't
know.
Law of Attraction gurus, Esther and Jerry Hicks say the
same - that if you visualize your goals and wants as
manifest - that is, already existing, then somehow the
emotional connection to your desire magnetically draws
you towards your results.
All very good in theory. But personally I never liked the
implication that if you don't pull off this magic trick
of 'experiencing what you don't have', then success is
never going to happen to you.
Sounds like a self help guru's cop out to me: The by now
old "You attract failure because that is what you
want" argument.
I guess I find visualization hard - and I think this goes
for many - because I/we know what real success and
achievement feels like.
Those moments in our lives when we're amazed at ourselves
and are elated are so deeply etched on us that 'faking'
them seems counter-intuitive.
I will never
forget how fabulous I felt when I got my first advance of
money for a screenplay. That feeling of overwhelming joy
and fulfillment stayed with me for at least a couple of
months. There's no way I could fake that!
I think what I'm
trying to say is that if you want to achieve something
special or important to you, like writing a book for
instance, you need to take the actual steps necessary.
That is, begin the journey.
Don't spend lots
of time thinking. Spend more time doing.
Take action.
Anthony Robbins
once said that opportunity does not come knocking at your
door.
No, it often
comes crashing through your house.
But many times we
don't actually like the mess that opportunity makes and
we tend to brush it away before we get too involved.
Don't be afraid
to open your mind to new possibilities.
