Ever have that day where you wake up and ask yourself "What am I doing this for?" Why the late night writing sessions, constantly being distracted by the story in your head, while seasons come and go. Well today is that day for me. It's been a year since I started my novel writing journey and though I've completed two lengthy novels and on the cusp of finishing my rough draft of UNDISTURBED, I still find myself in days like today when I wonder if I've just wasted a year of my life.
I don't even know how I manage to be so discouraged before I've even sent out a single query letter. I mean its one thing to stare your rejection letters in the face and feel defeated, but how do you contemplate an end to something that hasn't actually begun.
Why can't I find something more practical to obsess over like grad school or my retirement plan? Maybe it's because at any given moment of the day there are words, images, and stories swarming around in my head; that when ignored, only get louder. Or maybe it's how my pulse quickens whenever I sit down to write.
Writing brings a joy to my life that nothing else ever has. Sure it's what I'd like to do for a living, but even if that never happens, I'll never stop. It's like the characters in my stories, following their journey, not knowing where it will lead them next. Their drive and determination keeps them moving forward, and as long as they keep going, so will I.
How about you? What keeps you writing?
It's a perilous journey, this writing thing. I too have images bumping around in my head at any given moment of the day, waiting to be put down on paper and be released. I have about six WIP's that will probably never reach fruition because they were just thoughts and ideas I had to get out!
ReplyDeleteI keep writing because of the books I've read. When I think of books that have touched my life, I think of the stories I've written or hoped to write and I know I can give something back. I've spent portions of my soul on creating these babies and those characters, I love, and know they deserve to be packed on a shelf in a library waiting for someone like me to pick it out and read the blurb and put it under their arm. I have something to give that will stay with the reader for years to come. I know I do. Or I wouldn't write.
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