Thursday, October 05, 2006

What Do You Do?

"We conquer, not in any brilliant fashion, we conquer by continuing." - George Matheson

We have done it at one time or another, haven't we? Questioned whether we should continue fighting the fight, or whether we should just send up the white flag? I know I have. Some days I wonder why I get up early and write. Or stay up late and write. Or bring a notepad with me on vacation and write. Or lay awake in the middle of the night thinking about my stories.

Wouldn't it just be easier to give it up? Look at the odds... seriously. How many unpublished authors are out there doing the same thing, writing like crazy folks, sending out queries and getting rejected? Thousands? Millions?

My friend, Allie, is going through this crisis right now. And I think that we can all understand how she feels.

I know, for me, that I always write. When I wasn't writing fiction or poetry, I kept a journal. Writing is just something that I do. Of course, writing for publication is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

When is it time to give up? A year? Five years? Ten? Never?

What do you do when you get discouraged? How do you keep your head high? How do you get past the rejections and discouragement and the knowledge of the overwhelming odds against you? What do you do?

I'd like to hear about it. Maybe Allie would, too. Let us know.


3 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

Give up? I don't think I could. I've got sidetracked over the years, when something else caught my interest, like painting, but writing was always there. If it wasn't for the internet I don't think I'd ever get anything published because I've not only gotten the help to fine tune my writing, but I've found the resources that I couldn't find before the internet.

I think first and foremost I've written for myself. I spent twenty years writing for myself so I can't see that would ever change. Being published is just the cherry on the top.

Getting published by a publisher like Harlequin, or someone in print would be the jimmies.

iyegsvc-in yesterdays eggs gravy solidified very crustily.

Anonymous said...

Well, there is just one guarantee about writing. You won't sell if you give up. It's all about persistence.

Anonymous said...

I don't think I could ever completely give up writing. I have too many people in my head yacking at me. :)