As writers, it’s easy to get discouraged. Don’t.
With housework, full-time jobs, kids, appointments, volunteer opportunities, political involvement, grocery shopping, caring for aging parents, feeding animals, going to school, or a multitude of other commitments that eat away at writing time, sometimes it’s hard to not give up.
Add in rejection letters, time spent waiting to hear from an editor or agent, lack of support from family members or friends, and dismal news about the economy and you might wonder why you’d want to keep writing.
It’s simple: We don’t choose writing, it chooses us. For those of us who write, writing is an integral part of who we are. We think about characters and plotlines while we shower, drive our kids to appointments, or wait at the doctor’s office. We have voices in our heads. We turn on the light in the middle of the night to record a dream in our writer’s notebook. We research exotic locales, poisons, and ways to steal money all in an effort to make our stories realistic.
We have sticky notes on the computer, the walls, the bathroom mirror. We interview our characters and ponder on their deepest, darkest secrets.
We live to write and write to live.
And the good news is that publishers need our manuscripts to stay in business. Though some publishers may be scaling back, books are still being published. New authors break into the market every year and existing authors continue to publish books.
Yes, the writing world is difficult. Writing a novel is strenuous work and takes time and dedication. Marketing that book is arduous and not only takes time and dedication, it also takes a great deal of patience and persistence. But, if your dream is to be published, don’t give up. Keep at it.
Someone once said that the difference between an unpublished and a published author is persistence.
Never surrender. Believe in yourself and in your work. Keep honing your skills and someday, you will see your name in print.
When you feel like giving up, what do you do to keep yourself motivated and believing that you’ll make it?
Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, CA. She now lives in rural CO on a small ranch with a dog, a spoiled horse, too many cats, and a herd of goats. She and her husband, Del, are the proud parents of ten multi-talented and wildly-creative children. Rebecca is the author of a children’s picture book “Grasshopper Pie” (WindRiver 2003), three novels, “Heaven Scent” (CFI 2008), “Altared Plans” (CFI 2009), and “The Upside of Down” (CFI 2011), and numerous magazine stories and articles. You can visit her blog at www.rebeccatalleywrites.blogspot.com.
Thank you for that post! I needed that! I could relate to everything you said! I spent the last four years writing my first novel, Curse of the Jaguar. I have four kids under the age of 9 and have to eek out every spare minute I can that usually includes late at night when I should be sleeping! Thank you for letting me know that I’m not alone! It’s been a rough road and after ten months of rejection letters I’ve finally just self-published, only to get an email from an interested agent – we’ll see what happens with that. But yes, it’s tough and I’ve gotten down. Thanks for your support and encouragement!
Love this! Just this month I was trying to write a NaNo novel but found myself getting super discouraged and feeling like I can’t write until my kids are all older because there just isn’t time. As long as I keep at it, little by little, I’ll be able to get it done…even if it takes a year instead of a month
Thanks, Rebecca, for these words of encouragement. It is always good to hear motivational words to keep us going.