All of my life, people have been telling me; I need to develop thick skin to truly be a writer.
I’ve never had thick skin. I felt everything intensely. Ever triumph on the page was an emotional high. Every failure was a blow, laying me low.
How could I develop this thick skin I needed? I had no idea how to get it. Besides, my sensitivity gave my writing power. Did I really have to lose it?
The answer came to me while watching a Japanese anime called Naruto, named for its main character.
Naruto had a short temper. He often got into fights with people. He often got his butt kicked. He always got up, even after the most humiliating defeats. He never stopped caring about other people, trying to get them to accept him. He never gave up.
I realized this was what I needed to do. Forget about thick skin. Take the blows, the criticisms, the mockery aimed at my writing, even if I feel as if it’s all crushing me. Keep writing. No matter how bad I think my work is, no matter how accurate I feel the criticisim is. Keep taking those blows, feeling them in all their agony. If possible, use the pain. Channel my pain and my anger into my work.
Naruto became an invaluable source of inspiration for me. A part of me feels as if I was queer-baited within an inch of life and carry scars to this day from the outcome of that series. At the same time, I’ll always be grateful to Naruto for the lesson it taught me, a lesson which showed me how to survive that outcome.
If How Many Ninja Are In Love With You? was an original story I’d sold, I’d be a much weathier writer today.
I haven’t given up on that possibility. If there’s one central theme to Naruto, it’s never give up. This is great advice for writers.