Spending the day on your hands and knees

April 8, 2014beccakinla passover, pesach, writing Tags: advice, effort, Passover, passover cleaning, Pesach, pleasure, success, work, writing 1 Comment

I spent this morning scrubbing the fridge, stove, and oven. I donned rubber gloves, used multiple cleaning substances — which hopefully will not kill all my brain cells — and scraped mystery goop with a toothpick. I sweated. At one point, I prayed the aforementioned stuff would just come off already!

Work that has meaning

But it was okay. Why? Because it was for a purpose. If I know that I want a kosher-for-Passover kitchen, I’ve got to work for it. If I want it finished before the kids start vacation so I can actually enjoy their company, I’ve got to work for it. And when I reach those goals, I will be satisfied and happy.

Writing is like that. Sometimes, you’ve got to work hard. Sometimes, it ain’t pretty: you’ve got to scrape out the goop and use every trick in the book to do so. But when you work hard, and pray for success, you’ll USUALLY end up with something you can enjoy. And you’ll get more pleasure from it as a result of all that effort.

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

Most writers procrastinate. But why?

February 18, 2014beccakinla advice, authors, preparing, writer, writing, writing process Tags: article in Atlantic, bright, challenge, delay, distraction, effort, excuses, fear of failure, gifted, praise, procrastination, psychology, put off, school, schooling, talent, why, writer, writer's block, writers 4 Comments

My best friend and fellow writer, Cy, sent me a link to an article in the current Atlantic about why writers are infamous procrastinators. Read it here and tell me what you think. And don’t forget to include the reasons you procrastinate in your comment. Personally, it took a relative taking me aside and disabusing me of the notion that talent is the source of success (or even deserves any praise). But my current biggest barrier to writing is poor time management. I tend to pick distractions or less important writing tasks over the more serious ones.

I am not a blogger

September 12, 2013September 12, 2013beccakinla authors, blogger, blogging, blogs, book, books, failure, farginen, frustration, writer, writing, writing process Tags: awards, blog, blogger, books, effort, envy, failure, fargin, farginen, jealousy, literature, my blog sucks, popchassid, success, work, writing 8 Comments

I am not a blogger.

There, I said it.

I came to this realization yesterday, after the funny (as in “weird,” not in “haha”) response I had to PopChassid’s marvelous list of 7 bloggers he thinks deserve more attention. As I read about all the fabulous bloggers (Several I had heard of, and a couple I had not…my favorite post by one of the unfamiliar ones was Ruchi Koval’s interview with her yetzer hara. Just so funny and true!), I felt more and more (embarrassing to admit) jealous.

Now, I’ve blogged here before about how important it is not to envy other writers. I’m a big believer in being farginen those around me. But I sensed something unusual about the variety of jealousy I was experiencing. Continue reading →

When good things happen to anxious people: the beginning of a new project

December 30, 2012January 21, 2013beccakinla authors, picture books, submissions, submit, trying, writer, writing, writing process Tags: anxiety, arts, attempt, author, begin, beginning, books, challenge, children, difficult, effort, folktale, hard, hope, kids, literature, nerves, nervous, new, picture book, plan, project, research, retell, retelling, try, worry, writer, writing 3 Comments

I hope I say something original, for once.

I’m close to wrapping a piece for a magazine, and I’m waiting on the opinions of some of the beta readers of one of my WIPs, so Friday morning, I started rummaging though my old journals for some new-old project ideas. Among my scribbling, I found notes about a folktale that really appealed to me. A little research has indicated that there is only one picture book retelling of this story. Which is why, for the first time, I’m attempting a folktale retelling.

Good for me, right? It’s good to try something new, right? Continue reading →

Did I write that book?

November 5, 2012November 14, 2012beccakinla Jewish, Judaism, submissions, submit, success, writer, writing, writing process Tags: effort, envy, hishtadlus, hishtadlut, jealous, new book, next book, shock, submission, success, try 2 Comments

I just had yet another one of those heart-stopping moments where I saw a book title, then read the review of the book and thought:

OMG! I WROTE THAT BOOK!

I’m pretty disgusted with my reaction. I’m sure my idea isn’t so original that no one else could’ve had that same one. Yes, I had my idea before that book was published—but what if that author thought of it first? Or maybe she didn’t think of it first, but she executed it better?

-sniff-

I’m chalking this up as another exercise in, “I’m only responsible for my effort, not my success.” If I was meant to sell that manuscript (I did shop it around a bit), then I would have sold it.

The end. Now it’s time to suck it up.

Give yourself credit for the effort, not your success

October 30, 2012November 14, 2012beccakinla advice, failure, revision, secular, submissions, submit, success, writer, writing, writing process Tags: amateur, credit, effort, Esther Simon, G-d, God, hishtadlus, hishtadlut, hobby, jewish, new writers, organizing, priorities, submission, success, time, try, work, writer, writing 1 Comment

Soooo…to make long story short, I did not spend my morning writing or editing today. Nope, no 1000 words for me today. Instead, I attended a workshop by Esther Simon, a well-known professional organizer. It ended up being a little bit of a wake up call. My revelation came in the middle of a discussion about how the way you spend your time should reflect your goals and values.

Am I really doing what I need to do to sell my next book? Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

effort

Spending the day on your hands and knees

Work that has meaning

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

Most writers procrastinate. But why?

I am not a blogger

When good things happen to anxious people: the beginning of a new project

Did I write that book?

Give yourself credit for the effort, not your success

Work that has meaning

Have you ever enjoyed something more because it only came with effort? Please share in the comments.

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