Friday, September 14, 2012

Aspiring Advice: The Trick To Overcoming Adversity


A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I had a head injury. Several of you wanted to know the story behind that. Since I'd like to keep my arms and legs, gather round and listen to a tale of a fateful trip ... that didn't start aboard a tiny ship (we still miss you, Bob Denver).

A few years ago, my wife's family invited us to spend a week in the Four Corners area (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona).

Proof!

A nice way to kick off the summer, right? Or so we thought. Sure, our cameras snapped lots of great memories from the cliff dwellings and the petrified forest, among other national park awesomeness. At this time, I was nine chapters into the first draft of this book I keep telling you about. Then we stayed at a campground in the Navajo Nation with plans to tour a canyon in the morning - on horseback.

Me. A city boy. On a horse (you see where this is going, right?).

 Moments before the incident ...

Truth be told, I was bucked off a horse when I was six - landed on my butt without a scratch. This time around, I was given a tame horse. We bonded quick, but when I hoisted myself onto the saddle, I accidentally sat on my hand, twisting my wrist. It hurt. A lot. Our Native American guide, Gabriel, asked if I was okay. I said "yeah, but I'm ... dizzy," and the next thing I knew, I was on my back, our guide tapping my face with his saliva on his hands (until someone gave him some water - then I got drenched). I passed out, fell off the horse, and landed head-first on the ground (it hurts to think about it).

 There's penguins on my pillows, bro!

Someone didn't get to go on that canyon tour. I stayed with the camper, my wife making sure I didn't fall asleep in case this was a concussion. Luckily, I landed on the side of my head. My shoulder took some of the blow. Unluckily, it was the right side of my head. You know, that creative side of the brain that allows for imaginative thoughts and art. Yeah. I figured I might as well try to write.

When I got back, my head and neck was out of whack, requiring the start of several chiropractic visits. And when I handed the latest chapters to my coauthor, something wasn't right. "This reads like a cartoon," he said, as if I had watched hours of Anime before writing them (so what if I did?). He was totally right. The narrative and the dialogue, the characters ... nothing like our other chapters, in a bad way - but I honestly couldn't see it. It was like writing my first novel all over again, loaded sentences that made no sense. Needless to say, it made me depressed. I had to stop writing. A part of me died then.

This is why I was absent from conventions in 2010. My logistical left brain was fine, so thankfully my job wasn't compromised.

As far as writing went, I could have quit then. Who would think less of me if I did? I would. Yep. I couldn't let this take over my dream to be a full-time writer, but how would I recover, not knowing if I would ever get back to the way I was, let alone better? Sometimes the best way to overcome adversity is to start with nothing. I took up a pencil and a writing pad and wrote. Just wrote. It didn't matter what. There was no plan to make my word salad into a novel. I wrote on, literally reteaching myself how to write a proper sentence again, to write dialogue that didn't sound like the voice-overs on Kid History.

The most difficult part was visualizing the setting and details in my head like I used to (and to this day, it's still a struggle), but given time and healing, I rose out of this slump. I looked at my lacking blog and turned things around. Finally, a year ago today, I fell back into my groove - albeit different than I expected (if you're reading this and have no problem following along, I think that's a good sign).

This is not the rule, just my thoughts on the matter. Even though my writing took a back seat for a year, I consider myself lucky. Adversity takes on many forms and may come at us at any given time. What's the trick to overcoming adversity? Simply put - mind over matter.

What matters is that we never stop dreaming. We never stop trying. We never give up. For all I know, this may have turned out for the best. So the next time you see me, and I come across as some kind of Smallville-stying, cruller-obsessed weirdy, now you know why.

 And they lived to see another sunset ...

What adversities have gotten in the way of your writing? What did you learn from it? Should I go out for liposuction?

I'm David, and this post by Nathan Bransford is hilarious!

38 comments:

  1. I had no idea, but thanks for telling your story. It's very inspiring and I love your perseverance.

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  2. I admire that you pushed on and worked through it!
    Horses are evil. Last one I was on tried to bite me and everyone around me.

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  3. Way to push through a difficult time and come out on top. Inspiring story, thanks for sharing!

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  4. It's good you were overcome that adversity. It's also a good reason to keep away from horses.

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  5. Holy! You poor thing! What a tale. And the pics are great. (Love your gorgeous wife! And the penguins are CRACKING me up!)

    Great post, DPK. And I LOVE that Nathan post too! :D

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  6. Never give up! Isn't that what they say? Thanks for sharing this. You've been through so much, your time is coming. I can feel it!

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  7. After reading that inspiring post on overcoming adversity and never giving up, it's kind of disconcerting to see comments advising you that "horses are evil" and "keep away from horses." As a horselover, I'm offended. It wasn't the horse's fault you fell--it was a random twist of fate. The best advice I could give you is what you've already given yourself: get back up, get back on the horse, and keep on writing. And judging by the writing quality of this blog post, you've done a great job relearning how to do that.

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    1. I'm sure they don't "really" mean it, Esther. This did, however, make it's way into that novel, the MC being afraid of horses, but it's something he has to overcome if he wants to save the day. ;)

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  8. Liposuction? You crack me up, David. I'm glad you were able to bounce back after this HUGE trial. Man, that would have been way difficult to reteach yourself how to write. I'm proud of you for doing so.
    Due to a bunch a crazy and rather depressing things that happened over the summer, I wanted to give up on my writing. It took me starting a new project to get me back into the groove. Although, I'm having some writer's block with it now. Ugh! But at least my love of writing is in my blood again. Nice.

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  9. Good for you, David, to hang in there as long as it's what you want.

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  10. I was already impressed with your writing devotion, but now I'm even more amazed. That would be awfully hard to relearn everything, but you are obviously doing great. I'm sorry for such a hard trial, but I suspect it will make your stories even better now that you've had to focus so much.

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  11. That's an incredible story, David. I'm so glad that you didn't give up on your writing. A brain injury is a terrible thing. This post couldn't be more timely either as the brain injury conference is coming up in October. You should totally be a guest speaker there.

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  12. Ouch, I'm glad you were able to keep going and continue writing.

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  13. So glad you were okay, and glad you shared the story. Someone offered my husband this advice years ago: "It's easier to steer a moving ship." Of course, I now relate that to writing - keep writing, keep moving ahead even if it doesn't feel like progress.

    Thanks for the post. Have a great weekend!

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  14. Thanks, too, for the link to Nathan's blog. That was great!

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  15. You poor thing. Not fun to get bucked off a horse.

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  16. What an inspiring story thank you for sharing it with us.

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  17. Wow, I have more questions: What do you think made you dizzy? Was your hand that painful? Were you treated for a brain injury? I'm glad you're all right now. Loved the penguins:)

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  18. I got bucked off a horse when I was 9, on my way down, the horse kicked me square in the back...I've enjoyed riding horses since but it took me a while to get back to being comfortable on one.
    On a more literary side of things, I love taking my own struggles and putting them into characters. Not only does it give me greater insight into them, it also helps me take an outside perspective on my struggles and, sometimes, find a new solution.

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  19. No to the liposuction. =) I'm glad you're well enough to be here to write about this, David. In the past, when I've confronted challenges, it just made me even more determined.

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  20. Hey,

    I haven't read the other comments, but Dude, I would *never* have guessed that you've struggled with your writing - so bloody great job to you, my fine penguin-pillow friend :)

    PS... me thinks next time you get on a horse that you, well, just don't go on a horse! Your talents are too good to be lost to a spill :)

    Thanks for sharing this part of your journey and I'm so glad you didn't quit.

    (Excuse me, folks, I gotta give a ManHug :)

    (((DPK)))

    Coughs. (Punches Dave in the shoulder.)

    "OK, right. How about 'dem Cowboys, huh," he said in a manly voice.

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  21. What an inspiring story, David. I'm glad you continued with your dream to write.

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  22. When I was 9 I was knocked off a horse running wild (I'd lost control of it) when it ran under a tree and the branch knocked me off. I was bucked off a mule when I was 10. I haven't been on many horses since then.

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  23. That was an incredible story. So glad you're okay and doing well these days. Geez. I know someone that was in a car accident and had some issues similar to yours. But her injury really affected her verbal abilities. There was a disconnect between what was in her head and what came out of her mouth. Very scary.

    And you look like Indiana Jones at that top picture!

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  24. That's so awesome how you didn't give up and kept at it until you felt like yourself. Not everyone makes the right choice like that. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story.

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  25. Wow. That's an amazing writing story! All writers face setbacks, I think, but you really got up and kept going in what sounds like the face of a very difficult one.

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  26. Well, although you had a rough tumble with your head, you didn't have a terrible stumble with your dream. You had the chance to give up but chose not to. Probably helped in giving you a new perspective on things in life as well.

    Thank you for sharing your story with us.

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  27. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase (and act) of getting back up on the horse. I think next time, perhaps you should just watch. :) Well done, finding your way through.

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  28. You have an amazing and inspiring story - so thank you so much for sharing it. And don't do liposuction. Ever.

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  29. Now that's dedication. I can't even imagine what it must've felt like to realize you couldn't write as you had and had to either quit, or re-learn. That's a big hill to climb.

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  30. Wow, I LOVED reading about this (hope that doesn't sound insensitive), but I just love to see how people rise above trials, and your example is incredible. I started writing at a time that my brain also wasn't functioning quite right. It was called depression--and it was a direct result of recovering from a major surgery (donating a kidney) that took it's toll on me, even though it was such a positive thing that I did and I never regretted it. But, yeah... It made me extremely forgetful and sensitive and all kinds of craziness. I still credit the act of writing as healing me from all that...and it took a good year or so to feel on top of things again. Thanks for sharing this experience!

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  31. Inspiring story David. I'm not sure how I would handle that, but probably not with your determination and persistence. Congratulations on making your way back, and beyond.

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  32. I never had a physical set back from writing and I admire you for overcoming it.
    I did have trouble writing for a while after losing a family member.

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  33. Oh Wow David. I am so glad you persevered and got back into your writing again. Good for you! An inspiration to us all, as sometimes those of us without head injury can give up all too easily.

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  34. Oh my goodness, that's so scary! Glad you're okay after all that!

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  35. Wooooo! That's tough. Way to stick it out there, though! Woot, woot!

    I'm a firm believe that there are rarely (IF ANY) overnight success stories. I'm convinced that the people who succeed are just the ones who are too dag blasted stubborn to stop kicking that brick wall 'til it crumbles to maroon colored dust!

    Overcoming adversity. That's what its all about! No one said this job would be easy ( :

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  36. Hm. I know it's off the topic, but maybe this accounts for why I have a hard time with description--fell off the swingset onto cement when I was four.

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  37. Wow - that's quite the story! Glad you're "back in the saddle." Sorry, couldn't resist. :)

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