On Writers and Writing

Writing is hard and often lonely work. I write, then delete, and then write some more. The next day I might delete everything again and then shut my computer off in frustration when the only words that come to my fingertips are flat. In talking with other writers, I know I'm not the only one who does this. It might be because of this struggle that the authors I've met either in person or online have been some of the most supportive, creative, and coolest ladies around, or maybe they were that way to begin with, but the people I've met over the past year or so have been an amazing inspiration. Hearing their experiences has helped me keep things in perspective. I can control if I write and what I write, but not what happens from there. With this new understanding, I have adjusted my goals and expectations accordingly and the pressure I was putting on myself is gone. It's liberating to allow myself to write only when I feel like it instead of putting myself on a tight productivity schedule. What's that about a type A personality? Oh no, not me. Hahahaha.

But as wonderful as it is to meet an already published author, it's another entirely to watch the process as a friend 'crosses over' from writer and wanna-be author to published author. It's exciting and really informative. But surprisingly, it's also painfully slow. This friend and I have slogged through revisions, sent out our query letters, and then waited, and waited, and waited some more. We both stacked up a load of rejection letters, but then, she got a call from an interested agent who wants to represent her. YAY! But that was two weeks ago. And now she is waiting to sign a contract and make the agent/client relationship official. Waiting seems to be the rule in this industry and patience must be the order of the day, or week, or month, or even year.

Hmmm....I'm probably supposed to learn something here.