The road to publication can be long, and most writer’s go through periods where they feel like giving up. Maybe that’s where you are right now.
So, ask yourself: “Why do I write?” If you write just to be published, then maybe your love for writing isn’t as strong as you think.
What does writing mean to you?
Anne Frank wrote to find comfort and strength: “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” C.S. Lewis saw writing as a virtual way to create things: “You can make anything by writing.” Annie Proulx viewed words like art on a canvas: “You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.” And Flannery O’Connor said, “I write to discover what I know.”
“Why do I write?” It is a question writers often shuffle to the backs of their minds. But, on those days when you feel like giving up, that is when you need to refocus and think about the heart of your writing.
If publishing is your goal, you might want to set some smaller goals. Or you could decide to self-publish. Maybe God is whispering to you, “In My time, not yours.”
When you feel like giving up, having a “just for today” attitude helps.
• Just for today, I will write because I enjoy it.
• Just for today, I won’t worry about getting published.
• Just for today, I will celebrate the good words I have written so far.
• Just for today, I will focus on the positive.
• Just for today, I won’t let doubt, fear and rejection get the best of me.
Think about why you write. Examine your heart.
Do you really want to give up and stop writing? Maybe the answer is yes. Maybe, at least for now, you want to set aside writing and trying to get published. That’s okay! You haven’t failed. You’ve just decided to try something else, to pursue a new goal. It doesn’t have to be forever. You can decide to stop writing JUST FOR TODAY. Emily Dickinson said, “Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” Keep the door to writing open, if even just ajar, and like the welcoming threshold of home it will always be there waiting for you.
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Something to Write Home About 
This is a great and realistic post! I think the development of blogs and self-publishing has made “everyone” think they are a writer, but not everyone is. Some may have skill, but if they are not writers at heart, they will not last. I shared this in a post I wrote:
“Some approached blogging as a way to make money or build an audience to get a book contract. Hoping for income or a book contract is not wrong in itself, but if it is your primary purpose – the primary underlying motive you have for blogging – then it will not sustain you. I think these things should be a secondary purpose, not primary. Why are you blogging? I think writing first and foremost for yourself is important. What? Am I contradicting myself? Christianity should not have a self focus! By writing for yourself, I do not mean in a selfish or self-centered way, but that your desire and purpose for writing comes from within and anchors you – rather than you drifting about, reliant on certain outward results – income, popularity, a book contract.”
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Great comment, Laura. Thank you.
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Hi Jean – This is so timely for me. I often go back to the early days and remember the reasons I began this journey. There have been many bumps in the road, but I have no regrets. During this difficult season of life, I find keeping my expectations on productivity realistic works best.
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Thanks for the comment, Susan. I’m glad to know that you’re writing. (Friends, Susan is author of “The Moses Conspiracy” and several other novels. You can find her at: http://www.susanjreinhardt.com/)
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