I made peace with that. Understand that this is MY OPINION and you are welcome to disagree with me. Hell you can even completely ignore this entire post. That is your prerogative. Still here? Good. Strap in and lets go. If this one raises your hackles or if you feel the need to illuminate me on the error of my ways…I direct you to the comment section below.
There is no such thing as writer’s block.
Barring depression and or anxiety which are real things and can stand in the way of your writing (and if you suffer from these I strongly urge you to seek medical help) the other reasons that writers come up with to attribute to writer’s block sound like so many excuses.
For every ‘reason’ out there that has stopped a writer, there are countless others who have had the same(or worse) setbacks and have continued to write. It’s time we let go of the crutches and get to walking on our own.
Take ownership of your writing. Stop ascribing near mythical properties to these challenges in your life.
Not enough time? Reevaluate how you spend yours.
Demanding Job? Do what needs to be done then get to writing.
Family responsibilities? Meet your responsibilities and then get to writing.
Death of a loved one? Grieve, grieve some more. Remember that you are still alive and choose life. Use your writing as a catharsis if you must, but get back to it.
Lost your desire? Remember why you started writing in the first place… and then start again.
Dont fall into this trap. Dont make excuses. Dont put it off.
Develop the discipline to see it through and FINISH WHAT YOU START.
BE COURAGEOUS.
<rant over>
I’ll leave you with a quote that sums this up for me.
“Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.”
― Robert McKee
On my window sill beside my desk I have no less than ten books on writing your first novel. This is not including the numerous articles I have on my hard drives. Included in this list are a few must haves – Larry Brooks Story Engineering ,Story Physics, and Story Fix, Strunk and White- Elements of Style travels with me everywhere. so does Stephen King-On Writing. The others while good reads- (and think about this, being a writer reading about writing has to be the epitome of procrastination) did not really further my writing or prompt me to write any faster. Now don’t misunderstand, I am all for learning and honing our craft of word smithing. Many times that takes reading and learning and studying. However the best way I have found to get better at writing is-writing. So why do I have more than ten books on writing staring at me everyday? Well I bought those books before my first book was published and it was really a way to feel like I was progressing in my book without actually having to write. In other words it was busy work, but not real work not writing. Very similar to shifting those papers around from one side of the desk to another but not really doing anything about them.
So here is my advice: Just write it- already.
You want to become better as a writer you have to write, a lot.
You want to become a published writer? It wont happen just thinking about it, only you can write your story.
By all means hone your craft, learn as much as possible. Read the books on writing, get the style guides. Just understand that at the end of the day none of that can replace your voice on a page.
I have been swamped with edits and all of the other details that involve getting a book out in the world. At times this process is equal parts exhilarating and mind numbing. There are times when I question the sanity of what I have chosen to do with all these ideas and stories inside my head. Then I remember my daughter’s words.
A while back I asked her what she thought about writing. Not my writing specifically, just writing in general. She gave this question some serious thought. I could tell because she became quiet and sat next to me for a short while. Then she had her answer. “Words are art,” she proclaims as if it is a self evident truth that everyone knows. Of course I had no idea what she meant so I asked her. This is her explanation as close to verbatim as I can recall: Words are art because when you write you create pictures in your brain. These are not like the pictures you can draw with crayons or markers, but pictures in your head. That means that when you use words its just like art and that means that writers are artists.
So whenever I feel like this writing thing I’m doing is threatening to implode the few working brain cells I have left I remember these words uttered by my sage six year old. I am an artist and I am busy creating, Sometimes that creating is hard, but most of the time its an amazing ride. Words are art.
To the untrained eye these hands looked wrecked. They certainly aren’t appealing or attractive. however if you practice a striking art, you would recognize these hands as lethal. These hands belong to Morio Higaonna who is currently a 10th Dan in Goju Ryu, one of the styles the art I practice derives from. I have seen videos of Higaonna Sensei practice his art and it still fills me with awe. He is now in his seventies and still trains. One of the videos I saw had him being interviewed and he said something which resonated deeply with me. He said that only now was he beginning to understand the depth of his training and that it was now that he was seeing the deeper aspect of Karate.(my paraphrasing) This is after 60 years of training.
This spoke to me as a person who has been training for less than half that time that it all comes down to staying on the path.Whether it is karate or writing or anything else in your life that requires excellence. This was brought home to me recently when one of my students, an advanced green belt(which in our school represents five years of training) shared that she was thinking of stopping her training. She is nine years old and quite fierce.
So we sat down and had a conversation as to why she wanted to stop her training. Her initial response was that it wasn’t “fun” anymore, which I understood. She has entered the phase of her training where more work is required and more is expected of her. There are less moments of “fun” and more moments of work and rigor. I told her I would respect any choice she made provided that she gave it some real thought and not just give me a quick answer. I requested that she go home and think it over and give me a list of pros and cons and whatever decision she made I would honor it.
She went home and gave it some serious thought I am told by her parents.
Here is her list written by her without any help:
Today I will be listing and telling you why the reasons I want to stay and not stay:
Pros:
I have made lots of friends at karate and I don’t want to leave them.
The karate staff and dojo has become part of my family.
If I leave now all my hard work will disappear.
If I quit now what if later I need to defend myself.
Karate grew into my heart.
Once I quit it I might miss it.
Cons:
I don’t exactly love kumite because I always get hit in the stomach at am out of air.
Karate isn’t always fun all the time like in class on Sunday.
When I read this list I was humbled. Keep in mind that this is a nine year old sharing these profound statements. It made me reflect on my own years of training.
There have been many moments that were not “fun”. But like this student my karate family has grown exponentially. More importantly, like her I know the importance of training. If we neglect our training or stop, all our hard work will disappear. Karate, our training, is no longer something we do. It is part of who we are. It defines and shapes us. If we remain on this path we will see, like those who came before us, that our training and our lives can only benefit.
As for her cons, I agree. Very few people “love” kumite. The day will come when you will get hit in the stomach and you wont be out of air. I can assure you. And yes karate isn’t always fun, but it is always good for you. Stay on the path, I look forward to tying a black belt around your waist one day and then speaking to your students about their instructor.
At our dojo we recently had one of two promotions we hold every year. As an instructor I think I am more nervous than the students going for their next rank. I know what its like to be a student and test for a promotion: the nerves, the anxiety, the sick feeling in your stomach as the realization hits you-today is THE day. This is balanced by the exhilaration, the sense of accomplishment of techniques properly executed under stress and the deep feeling of support from your classmates and seniors. This promotion was, in many respects like many of the ones before it. Every group promoting exhibited a strong spirit, incredible amounts of fortitude, grace , and poise. Continue reading Kintsugi-Embracing the flaws→
I recently saw a short Joss Whedon speech and one line ( among the many) he said resonated in a deep way. He said “Recognizing someone elses power does not diminish your own”
Welcome to the Nascent Novel redux ( I enjoy that word so this was a perfect excuse to use it).
After a snafu with my previous hosting company I discovered that my last site, nascent novels is down. As in any situation involving two or more parties there were several different versions of what happened. Let me cut to the chase, they said an email was sent notifying me of the impending closure and I said no email was sent. End result? My site is down. The bad news? Many posts are now in limbo and missing and the site has lost continuity, which I am told in this day and age of short attention spans is the death knell for a blog.
The good news? I have all my posts backed up and will over time be restoring them to this site. This was also an opportunity to take the blog in a different direction.
Initially I had three active blogs. One on martial arts, one for writing, and one for my photos and daily life observations. When I shifted my attention to my writing blog I neglected the other two. Over time I realized that this was a mistake. I’m not only a writer or a martial artist or a person who enjoys photography. I, like each of you am an amalgam of many interests and pursuits. By trying to compartmentalize who I am, my blogging suffered. This site will address that. It is not strictly a “writing blog”. I will discuss those things which make me, me. Some of that will resonate with you and some will not. That’s okay. I’ll do me and you will do you.
Here you will find posts about writing, books I enjoy, movies and video games. You will also find posts about martial arts and martial philosophy, being a practicing martial artist for close to three decades makes it impossible to separate this aspect of myself from everything I do. It is a filter which shapes my life and actions. You will also see pictures of things I find interesting and my family. My family and fatherhood is the source, my source of strength and my greatest adventure. The good thing is that I have many large families. I have my immediate family, blood of my blood. I also have a large dojo family which is blended with my immediate family. This is a natural progression. My other family is the writer/reader family which grows and is growing by leaps and bounds daily.
So as you can see the aspects of me are diverse and complex and exciting. I do live a blessed life. If you go back into the history of this site you will find the old posts from the other sites now comprise the body of this site. That was intentional. Take a moment to go through them and read. I am certain you will discover something fascinating or something to disagree with me about. I enjoy and invite all kinds of discussion and interaction. Leave a comment and let’s talk.
So what have I been up to? Well I’m currently in the midst of edits for my third book in the Warrior of the Way series. I had the first book edited by my excellent editor, Lorelei, (if you are a writer and need an editor go here NOW) which required her to use extensive editorial kung fu to make into a coherent story. The end result is impressive. The second book, The Ascendants, is being soft launched and I haven’t given it much publicity. It is now available on Amazon, Smashwords, and Nookpress.
I also had the covers to several of my stories redone. Here they are:
Spiritual Warriors Revised 2015A Blur ShortNew Book now available!!
These great covers were done by Derek Murphy. A few things about Derek. He is a talented and gifted cover artist. This means he is also in demand. If you want amazing covers by him be prepared to invest time and money. You can find his site here
I have been also speaking with writers, martial artists and fathers( moms too) about guest blogging here on this site. I look forward to the different voices that will be showcased here.
So why Creative Warriorship?
Throughout history warriors have always been known to be creative. I find that it is within the warrior nature to be creative. If I look at my own life and those of my fellow warriors I find this to be true. In the dojo alone we have writers, architects, graphic designers, painters, performance artists, dancers, calligraphers, musicians and singers among both the adults and the children. This is not an accident or coincidence. I truly believe that the warrior spirit is also a creative one. Creative warriorship to me is not a dichotomy or paradox. Rather it is the expression of warriorship in its full sense. A warrior knows that life is balance, light and dark.
It is my sincere intention to make this blog a weekly event. Whether with my own posts and observations or those of others. They wont all be this long, (although I cant guarantee that) but they will all be an expression of what I consider relevant and important to my life.
Leave a comment share your thoughts and say hello!
Those who cant do teach. That is the prevailing thought, especially in the sports world. This is not the case in the martial arts world however. This came to mind when I was recently asked by a parent upon my entering the dojo, “Do you ever teach class?” It was fair question, most people prefer to get taught by what they consider the highest ranked student of the school. When I am in a the dojo I am teaching whether I am in the class or not. I occasionally meet with each instructor before class to discuss what needs to be covered in the class and with whom.
Then I realized it goes further than that. In the same manner I am constantly learning the same applies to my teaching. I am always teaching. It is not something I just do at certain times of my week, but rather a state of being student/teacher is a natural way for me. I was not disturbed by the question. Our school has grown to the
point that there are students who have not seen me teach their class. I do however make it a point to try and visit every class at some point during the month. When we started at the location we are now, I did teach every class since I was the only instructor there were no other options. But as time passed and the school has grown we now have several instructors and many more training to become instructors. One of my driving philosophies in having a dojo was the furtherance of our style. Continue reading Do you ever teach?→
Due to other time constraints I haven’t written in some time I will maintain this as a bi weekly blog until I can devote more time to posting here. Thank you for following! This post is going to make a few of you upset. Feel free to comment below.
The rank you possess is artificial.
It doesn’t tell me who you are as human being and it doesn’t inform me as to your level of skill. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things either. If the prognosis is you have six months to live-your first thought is unlikely to be “But I’m a black belt!”
If your child is in danger, your rank isn’t (or shouldn’t be) at the forefront of your mind. Your rank is not a determining factor if you get assaulted. No would be criminal is going to ask you your rank at gun or knife-point (it may actually work to your detriment).
In fact outside of the microcosmic world that is your dojo, your rank is virtually irrelevant. This is evidenced by the differing of opinion in what a rank means among styles and occasionally even within the same style but differing schools. I know this may be news to some I have to confess it took me a long time to learn. Continue reading How important is rank?→
Its January so let me wish you a Happy New Year. This is the time of year where many people rededicate themselves to physical fitness. It is the time of New Years resolutions.
In our school January is the month of Kagami Biraki, the start of a new year. We usher it in with hard training and pushing ourselves past our perceived limits.Cultivating new energy for a new year.
Its very similar to what is happening in many gyms at this time of the year.. The dojo however is not a gym. Let me share my thoughts and show some of the similarities and then I will explain the differences. In both locations the purpose is to go and stress the body. You can work hard in both the gym and dojo. Both places are designed to transform your body. Both require a commitment on your part. Both can be social settings and both produce results.
On the surface they seem interchangeable as if one is just an expression of the other. It would be a mistake to think so.
Let me explain the differences between the two. A dojo is a sacred space.
This is the definition of sacred in the context of something that is worthy of spiritual respect or devotion, not in the context of any of the worlds religions. When you enter a dojo you respect the space because of what it symbolizes in your life. When you enter a gym, at least when I enter one there is no sense of the sacred demonstrated by me or that I can witness by the members of the facility.
A dojo is a place of transformation.
You will be transformed in a gym. If you are consistent and train with regularity your body will change. In a dojo the transformation runs deeper. When you train in a dojo you are faced with who you are at your core. The transformation takes place on an incremental level, subtly. You wont always be aware of it occurring, but it is happening. You will experience the outward of transformation of your body like in a gym, but you will also experience an inward transformation. Your entire demeanor will change, you will acquire patience, with yourself , with others and with the process of growth. You learn to embrace the journey as opposed to being focused on the destination. This is a very different mindset from being in a gym where the goal is what matters.
Training in a dojo requires hard work
Training in a dojo is hard. It requires a level of commitment not usually seen in a gym. You must be willing to push yourself beyond what you think your limits are on a consistent basis. This is not to negate the hard work required in a gym, however the hard work required in a dojo transcends the physical and enters the spiritual. You are not only working on your body but your entire being as a whole, spirit mind and body are impacted.
Ego has no place in a dojo
There is no room for your ego in a dojo. It only serves as an obstacle to learning. You cant bring your ego into a dojo and expect to progress because it will constantly remind you of what the other people in the class are doing how much better you are or how much worse you are than those around you. It seems to be quite the opposite in a gym where ego gets fed on a regular basis. I can lift more than the next person, my body looks better and so on.
The dojo is a community
You may be a regular at a gym and even have training partners which make the training in a gym easier. When you commit to training in a dojo you become part of a community, a family. You learn not just be concerned about yourself but about the journey of your fellow classmates. The social setting in a gym is one of isolation in most cases. In a dojo your are on an individual path as well. The difference being that you are connected to those that came before you and after you. The sense of connectivity is what creates a dojo family. We have all walked the same path some have started before others, but we are still on the same path.
In a dojo you come just the way you are and are accepted. There is no ideal you need to measure up to. The only limits that exist are the ones you impose. The only comparison that exists is when you compare to yourself of the past. Each person in the dojo serves each other. We spur each other on when our energy wanes. When we think of quitting we reach out and extend a hand to help you continue.
Though they may be similar but, a dojo and a gym are not the same. They each serve a purpose and it depends on what you seek in your life and in your training that will determine where you invest your time and energy.
strong spirit-strong mind- strong body
Sensei Orlando
P.S. I wanted to share with all of you that I just released my latest book and you can find it HERE. It was a pleasure to write and I hope you enjoy it as well. If you do pick it up please leave a review.
