When to Quit

Some writers go through periods of just throwing their hands up in the air screaming, “Why do I keep doing this shit?” They submit to a multitude of publications, only to receive the inevitable rejection letter. They post to online sites only to get a handful of ho-hum responses. Some people ask to read their ‘stuff’ but never respond. It’s frustrating. It’s maddening. It’s enough to make you quit in disgust.

When I write I have to have music in the background. That’s mandatory. If I don’t have music, or a clean desk, I can’t work. Yes, I’m strange. Today the thought of writing this post was rattling around and echoing in my mind. I wasn’t sure just how to approach the subject of quitting. Then a couple of serendipitous things happened. I saw an advertisement for iHeart radio so I installed it on my phone to give it a try. It is free, I love music, I listen to either books or music when I mow lawn so I thought I’d check it out. It’s good. No advertisements so far and I’ve been listening for hours. Then the second unexpected thing happened. I was listening to the old Bread song, ‘Guitar Man.’ Check out the lyrics. It might just as well have been written about writers instead of musicians. There’s one portion that was particularly appropriate to what I wanted to write today:

Then the lights begin to flicker and the sound is getting dim 
The voice begins to falter and the crowds are getting thin 
But he never seems to notice, he’s just got to find another place to play

Think about it. The musician in the above stanza doesn’t even consider quitting. Even when the sounds isn’t any good, even when the crowds are thin, he still has to find another place to play. The same is true for writers. Real writers. They just have to keep going. They’ll submit that next story to yet another publication. They’ll write that next story in the hopes this one catches someone’s attention. They just have to find another story to write.

I titled this post, ‘When to Quit.’ You know the answer. You never quit. You keep pushing on through the frustration, through the disappointment, through the soul crushing discouragement. You’re a writer.