I have to come up with three things instead of hundreds but I suppose this’ll do. *wink, wink*

Okey dokey, numero uno!

There are going to be many, possibly hundreds of people who aren’t going to understand why you choose to be a ‘starving artist’. Well, starving until you make it ridiculously big allowing you to bathe in expensive French soap, the kind that costs fifty dollars an ounce and you won’t even bat your eyes at the cost because that’s how big you’ll be. These naysayers are going to ridicule you, belittle your decisions, question your abilities and often it will feel like they have a valid point.

Stop! Just stop right there!  This is where you say, “Thank you for your opinion but your opinion is just that. An opinion.” Then, you get up, straighten your clothing, flip your hair, tilt that beautiful chin up into the air and saunter, yes saunter, away from the conversation.

Steel yourself. That’s number one.

Know that your art is why you do what you do and know that you have purpose and talent and that nothing can or will ever discourage you because this is your art! Remember that your words are your voice. Remember that you can make them swim, dance, and skim along the surface of reader’s feelings or cause them to dive into their hearts and souls and that it is a powerful tool, more powerful than any discourager could fathom. You shape minds, you shape hearts, you shape history.

Those who discourage are too small to have imaginations. Never let them drag you down.

Two!

Do not, for any reason, go one day without writing.

Writing is like riding a bicycle. The more you practice, the more efficient and deft you become at handling the machine. You oil the wheels, clean the chain, air the tires, replace the spokes. Baby your machine, shelter it from the cold, coax it into the light. When the time is right attach a singing bell, place a wicker basket in front, fill it with fresh flowers, add long, colorful, feathers to the handlebars. Make it shine. Then, take it for a ride. Allow others to enjoy its beauty. Let it sparkle in the sun.

And it will. Sparkle, that is, because the machine will be beautiful. It will define you. It represents you well.

Three!

I’ve said this before but number three is simple.

Read.

Read anything and everything you can get your hands on.

But this does not mean you shouldn’t scrutinize. It’s very important to read talented works. Read Orwell, read Dickens, read Bronte, both, read DuMaurier, read Abraham Lincoln…just read.

There is nothing more powerful an influence than good literature. Oh! How it shapes you as an artist! It floats intelligence to the top of your thoughts, finesses your vocabulary, bends words into emotions you never felt you could convey.

Reading makes you powerful! It arms you with ideas and affections you never realized you needed to think or feel!  Reading gives you knowledge, a well rounded knowledge of many, many, many things, different, wonderful things.

Seize other’s words and you will inherit an imagination for your own!

“Knowledge is power and enthusiasm pulls the switch.” – George Orwell

Now, go strengthen that brain of yours. Visit my fellow Carni’s!