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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