Letters to Kel: EVEN WHEN IT STOPS BEING FUN?

A long time ago, when I was just getting my feet when in terms of publishing -- and getting lots, and lots, and I mean LOTS of rejection letters, I made myself a promise.

"I'll stop writing when it stops being fun."

I had heard enough stories and warnings and read enough industry articles and books on writing, I knew my chances of getting published at all were kind of thin, and then the odds of making decent money were even thinner, and being able to make a living off my writing ... well, the odds were so thin, I could see through them.

So why keep tormenting myself -- why should YOU keep slogging through, sacrificing a social life and family time and money and enduring headaches and frustration for the sake of something that might never turn out according to your dreams? Yeah, be smart and stop when it stops being fun!

Warning: If you're really dedicated, if you're passionate about your writing -- let me emphasize, passionate about WRITING, about fleshing out the stories in your head and giving faces and life to the voices in your head, writing as opposed to selling -- it gets under your skin. You can't NOT write. Even if nobody ever reads what you wrote, you have to write. It's your private therapy as well as your escape hatch and emergency pressure valve. It's your mental and emotional balance.

Lately, I've been reminded of my promise to myself that I would stop when I wasn't having fun anymore. I've been battling this wretched book, something I wrote years ago, that I've taken out of storage and made major renovations on it. The monster wasn't cooperating. I kept hitting roadblocks in the revision process, coming up with more and more problems that needed resolving. Plus the frustration of seeing what I wrote nearly thirty years ago and realizing ... well, it's not half bad, but then it's not really that good, either. Ever have one of those days? Try it on for about five, six months. If I hadn't pitched this book to an editor I met at a conference, and she wants to see it, I would have abandoned it. Because on top of this self-imposed deadline and the promise I made to the editor, I have another book due at the same time -- and this book is under contract.

Pressure, pressure, pressure! Self-imposed ulcers!
Did you hear the shriek of exhilaration last week, and the sounds of chains falling to the ground? I finished my latest revision on the horrid thing, which gave me permission to get to work on the book that's due at the end of the month -- and since this blog is scheduled for Thursday the 31st, that means the book is due TOMORROW. Ahhhh, the joy and wonder and anticipation of getting back to the book that I really want to work on. It's going to be so fun, creating the last few new scenes to flesh it out, and I know the rest of the revisions are going to be so easy, so fun. Yeah, FUN!

Even when I'm in agony, smacking my head against the wall and wondering why I keep doing this to myself, making promises and committing myself to horrid stories I don't wanna work on anymore ... I know that it will soon be over and I can go back to having FUN.

So stick to it. Keep working. Focus on the drudgery and get it out of the way. The fun is waiting again, right around the corner.