It's Not Easy But It Is Worth It

I love seeing posts from authors on social media. I especially love three different types: The computer screen that shows THE END; The picture of the author in the bookstore holding a copy of her book; and finally, the photo (or lately video) showing the author opening up her box of books that just showed up. These photos show pure happiness. These photos show, it was all worth it. 

For a lot of writers out there they will never post one of those photos. No, it is not because some editor or agent did not sign them. It is because they quit. 

Last weekend, I saw a mention of a post of mine on Twitter. I had said that if you want to be a professional writer, you have to commit to do something with your career daily. This author commented that it was unrealistic. She noted that there is no job out there that someone would do daily. Yes, I get it. We go to work for 40+ hours a week and then come home. We take weekends off. What this author missed is that I am not saying you need to work 9-5 every day. I just simply said to do something. For this author, and probably a lot of other authors out there, the commitment to writing is just too much.

It is tough to be a writer. There will be days when you just don't want to write. There will be days when you want to delete the entire day's work because it is garbage. There will be a lot of these days. In fact, there will probably be more negative days than positive days. But, when you have those positive days, it will be so worth it. 

I think we have been lulled into this belief of writing being a totally enjoyable all of the time. We see those photos of authors smiling, hanging out with their friends and proclaiming the joys they are having with their craft. But to get to those days, we have to fight through the tough days.

I want all of you out there to find those authors who are giving up their passion, and give them a nudge. Tell them they can do it. Show them of all the joys they had when they were writing.