Days like today – thinking about writing & discouragement

Or – being published doesn’t make it all better.

Now, don’t get me wrong – being published is fabulous! Traditional publication is a huge validation of one’s writing. But, it doesn’t guarantee long-term happiness or satisfaction. Publication is just one step on a writer’s journey; at least that’s true for this writer.

Happiness in writing (or any worthwhile endeavor) could be defined as the continued striving for and achievement of your goals.

Along my writing journey I’ve set, and reached, such goals as finally finishing a first novel (that may never see the light of day), getting a poem published, finishing and polishing a second novel, getting an agent, revising said novel, getting a book deal, and having two books published. All cause for celebration! (Which I did!) Along the way, however, there was also disappointment and discouragement. The realities aren’t always what an onlooker sees – but they are what a writer feels.

So, what is one to do when your writing dream is beset by nightmarish angst? For me, the answer was to do what writers do – WRITE.

I’ve written through grief, anger, heartache, joy…the whole spectrum of emotions! (And, let me say, sometimes joy is the hardest to write through!)

A writer writes. If they can’t write stories, they journal. If they can’t journal, they write blogs, letters, cards, emails, tweets, or Facebook posts. If they can’t even do that, they make lists – a grocery list can count as writing!

What I’m saying is that all writing is writing. And by invoking the action of pen to paper or fingers on a keyboard, writers eventually find their way back to the form they want to write (or discover new possibilities along the way.)

Wherever you are on your journey – whatever the validation or discouragement – keep on writing! It’s what you do!

How’s your writerly journey going? I’d love to know!