In Kill Bill 2 there’s a scene where Beatrix (the heroine) is thinking about the first time she met her kung fu master Pei Mai.

In his best “westernized women are trash” tone, Pei Mai asks Beatrix what forms of martial arts she’s good at. She says that she’s proficient in blah, blah, blah… proficient in blah, blah, blah… and more than proficient in blah, blah, blah.

Her so-called proficiency is soon put to the test, where we see Pei Mai barely lift a finger to defeat Beatrix.

Through her angry tears (and Pei Mai grasping her arm, nearly ripping it off) she concedes that she has a lot to learn.

The moral of this piece of the story?

Proficiency Sucks

When expert status (Pei Mai) was pitted against proficiency (Beatrix), proficiency got a first-class, no-nonsense thrashing.

And that brings me to the message of this post.

In the world of writing, most of us are proficient. I’m a proficient writer. I know I could be better. But proficiency has helped me sell a lot of ebooks, so why rock the boat, right?

Rock the boat because proficiency can become a danger to yourself in the big scheme of things.

Okay breathe that one in for a moment…

Proficiency is okay if you’re a government drone with a pension and 15 years under your belt. But will it always serve US well? Forever and ever, amen???

My proficiency (knock on wood) works to my advantage right now. But what if I could blink and have all the necessary words jump directly from my brain onto the monitor with barely any mental interruption? My skills would then give me a leg up over proficient writers.

Which leads me to a comment I read by Catherine Franz on Amazon.com. She was reviewing Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer, when she said:

“One of my goals is to read every book on writing.”

I was actually stunned when I read that statement. I got up, walked away from the computer and thought about the breadth of it. My heart was actually pounding.

It’s kind of like Beatrix training with Pei Mai to become a super warrior. (Which – by the way – we later discover saves her life, and helps her to defeat Bill.)

It’s an incredible tactic from a writers perspective. I can’t even fathom how much better I’d be as a writer if I took the time to read every single writing book there is. How much faster I could write. How much more creative I’d become over time.

As a writer I can see a goal like that changing the very essence of who I am.

That’s why I’ve stolen Catherine’s idea. (Though I’m sure she won’t mind.) I too am on the path to reading every writing book available.

And I propose a challenge to you… are you ready to change your proficient ways?

Are you prepared to know all that is, so that you can become one who truly knows?

Don’t decide now.

Just think about it.

As odd as it feels to admit outside of my mind, sometimes I think I just got lucky – as a writer I mean.

All in all I know I’m a good writer. I know that I was born to write.

But sometimes I lose my thunder. Sometimes I go to write, and I don’t feel like I can put the words together well enough to please you. I don’t feel like what I say is important enough to make a difference.

And so I languish in a place of uncomfortable-ness. Wanting to say something – but feeling nervous and apprehensive about the process and my ability.

And yes… that may manifest itself as a lack of blogging. (But oddly enough, I continue to create new ebooks with no problem.)

There’s this huge part of me that understands how wrong these feelings are. That part of me says confidently to others, “Writing is my natural strength.” And it’s there with me when I offer a consultation, and leave the listener excited with possibilities. That wiser part of me goes through these combative periods with my overly critical side.

Anyway, I thought it would be important to share this with you.

Why?

Because I try to keep it real at all times. I don’t want you to think that I don’t suffer along the way too. I butt my head against the same obstacles as everybody else.

Problems are surmountable though. At least this one is.

Two Ways I’m Combating This Form of Writers Block-itis

1) Templates

One of my goals for 2008 is to write more promotional articles. But I sometimes have a difficult time coming up with a lot of topics at once.

So I recently created a list of 800+ article title templates. Since I completed this massive document I’ve been able to crank out 2 articles per day with total and complete ease.

2) Writing More

Since I’ve begun to increase my promotional article output, I clearly see the value of what I write. My ideas are no longer mere thoughts that I mentally beat up before they can reach my audience. And that’s what I needed to see.

The only way to prove that you have the ability to do something is to just do it. Allow yourself to get stuck by thorns, and still keep reaching for the rose anyway.

Now be creative and prosper.

Often when people purchase Desperate Buyers Only they want to write on topics that come from personal experiences.

But the most common complaint I hear is, “I’ve worked and raised a family. I’ve never had the time for a hobby. I probably don’t have anything desperate to write about.”

Poppycock! (That’s a word I live to say on a weekly basis.)

Nobody amongst us has a “normal” life. “Normal” meaning not being able to extract some valuable life lessons.

Everybody has a salable moment or two. It’s almost always just a matter of shining the light on the moments so that you (the writer) can understand their value.

Here are 10 questions (okay more than 10) that’ll help you extract the desperate topics from your everyday life.

1) What type of work have you done? Were you exceptionally good at a particular task? Did you reach a particularly tough milestone that most people in your position fail to do?

For example, my cousin – a customer service rep – recently got her evaluation at work. She was the only person in her department to have received a 5 (out of a possible 5 points) for the way she handles her customers.

Could that be an ebook? Angled to the right audience, most definitely.

2) Was there a piece of advice your mother, father, grandfather, or favorite aunt imparted to you that rang true your entire life? Did it help you avoid disastrous results? How?

3) Did you have an unusual experience with your children? Did you homeschool a (now) Harvard grad? Was there a crisis (drug addiction, phobias) that they overcame? Did you turn your picky eater into a prolific muncher?

I started teaching my daughter to read at the age of 3. Now at 5 she’s reading 2^nd grade level books with ease. She handwrites letters to her grandparents and even pens her own stories.

Do you think other parents would be desperate to know my techniques? Of course.

4) Do you know more than one language? How did you learn it? Do you have an interesting educational approach to your linguistic skills?

5) Where have you lived? Did you ever have a negative experience with your living situation? Were you evicted? Did you buy a house after a foreclosure or a bankruptcy? Did you find a cheap apartment in an expensive city?

6) Did you get straight A’s in school? Were you able to consistently crank out A+ term papers that were written in 48 hours or less? Were your note taking skills so good that you didn’t have to study? Did you conquer a class that you’d previously failed?

7) Did you lose 100 lbs in 100 days? Have you been able to maintain your ideal weight, even though you love to eat? Have you found that eating a certain food helps you with your physical health?

Have you managed to keep your love life as exciting as the honeymoon? Did you divorce and re-marry the same person? What were your lessons learned the second time around? How do you keep your marriage spicy when your spouse is in the military or travels a lot? If you’re single, how do you keep your dating coffers full?

9) Did you overcome a specific health crisis? Did you beat the doctors predictions with an unusual form of treatment? Do you attribute your super tight abs to something other than exercise? Has your advice on treating the flu always been spot on?

10) Have you failed at something important? What advice can you give to others who are doing what you did? What can you tell them to avoid failure?

After you’ve honestly answered these questions I want you to begin looking at every life situation as potential desperate material. Sometimes the only way to write the ebook is to see the writing in your own life.