Stepping Stones or Stumbling Blocks

There is a saying I have referred to in the past that I thought was appropriate today. I honestly don't know where it came from but it is a thought.

A single rock has four potentials: It can be a stumbling block, or a stepping stone. It can be a stone of construction, or a stone of destruction. 

I was thinking about this idea yesterday about the need for people today in any business, and certainly in publishing, to learn to take advantage of situations in front of them. More to the point, we are living in a world today that requires us to make decisions like this all of the time.

In writing, we will often face times when the writing simply isn't working for us. We might find that every time we turn around, we get one more rejection letter, or one more bad review. It is at this point we need to turn to the first half of this thought. Do we view those apparent backward movements in our career as something we can learn from and move on, or do we fall down and give up?

When it comes to the second half of the phrase, I started thinking about the entire publishing business in general. In reality, the only way this publishing industry is going to get back on its feet is for everyone to work together. And yet, almost daily we see Tweets, or read blog posts where authors, editors, agents, and those random people who "think they know" proceed to place blame on others and do nothing but complain. Instead of being a stone of construction, they have become a stone of destruction.

Now that we have all gotten our kids on the bus and off to school, or for those of you who have finally gotten back from a great summer, maybe it is time to think which path you are going to take. I know for myself, I am moving on.