When you hope your dreams don’t come true

This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG will be Murees Dupe, Alexia Chamberlynn, Chemist Ken, and Heather Gardner!

The other night I had a dream that not one, but two different people read my first book and hated it. Neither of them were people I actually know, one was a guy who came into my work and asked to read my book and then left me a long, detailed letter about how much it sucked. The other was an amalgamation of several people I know, a woman who told me to my face it was pretty awful and that the characters were terrible. Needless to say, I woke up a bit disgruntled and disheartened.

I work in the service industry–I’ve been a server and bartender for a long time. In the service industry there is a phenomenon jokingly called ‘server dreams.’ Because serving/bartending can be such a high-stress, anxiety-inducing job, many people who do it have nightmares weekly (sometimes nightly) about work. Dreams where they’re slammed with a hundred tables at once, or they can’t work the register, or all the food is coming out wrong, or everyone is yelling at them–it’s never something cool like someone giving  you a million dollar tip, it’s always a nightmarish hell where you forget how to do your job and all the customers hate you.

A few years ago I started working as a bartender in a private airport club, which is MUCH more laid back and slow paced. Since that time, my server dreams have stopped, though I still have about one a month (but then I wake up grateful I’m not doing that anymore, instead of frazzled).

…now I’m having AUTHOR DREAMS!

Geez, it never ends, does it? Next I’ll probably dream I’m doing a book signing and someone walks up to me, hits me across the face with my book, and tells me I’m a disgrace to the writing community (don’t get any ideas, brain).

Have you ever had a nightmare about your writing?

Filed under: Behind The Scenes, IWSG Tagged: blog hop, funny, insecure writer's support group, writing