Labor Pains
A friend and writer I respect immensely told me recently that writing a book is a lot like giving birth. Well, in my “other life”–my full-time job is a labor and delivery nurse. I thought about her analogy for a moment and had to laugh. She is absolutely right.
We start with a tiny seed of an idea. We nourish it, we love it, we have all kinds of hopes and dreams for it . . . you following me here? Then, the time comes to bring it into the world. And it’s a painful ordeal which, for some of us, can become a downright ugly, bloody affair full of tears and screaming. There’re no epidurals in publishing. Darn it.
But, hey, in the end we get to hold our little bundles of joy in our hands and proudly proclaim, “I created this!” Amazing!
But, wait.
Like babies, the work has just started. The cuteness will always be there—just look at that cover!—but we still have to get our booties out there and work for it. Um, did we sign up for this way back when we were germinating those precious little characters in our minds? Well, if you want your baby to succeed, yes you did.
Ah, a mother’s, I mean an author’s work is never done. But it is so worth it. Because how many people can say they plucked something from the depths of their mind, put their fingertips to a keyboard, weaved a story for others to enjoy—finished it—and lived to tell the tale?
So let’s hear it for all those ‘mommies’ out there . . . whether you’re a mother to a child, a furry creature, a fictional character, or perhaps something else . . . we’ve all got our own labors of love. So tell me, what’s yours?
