JUNE 1, 2021
Had been toying with writing something like this, demurred, but then saw a post by another author and it pushed me to actually go through with it. And while I don't consider myself successful, per se, I do think I've been through some things over the last 5 years or so, and have been able to reach some consistency in publishing work, so maybe sharing this will help someone else who's perhaps just starting out.
Okay, so, a lot of my online friends are writers. Like me, they struggle to find ways to keep the dream alive, so to speak, and do whatever they can to eek out even the tiniest semblance of a writing career - a daunting, exhausting, often humiliating, but incredibly bold goal to set for oneself.
All that to say, I think it's important to remember that many writers, myself included, tend to only post when good stuff happens, and leave the bad stuff to their offline circles to hear about. So it can often seem like everything is always great, when in reality it's only one side of things being projected. I could post about my hundreds of rejections or my past battles with publishers or the depression cycles I go through when things suck, but I prefer not to (for the most part).
But I worry sometimes that folks think it's all gravy, when actually there's a ton of sweat and tears and despair and tough losses between those uncommon wins.
Perseverance is the most important thing, in my mind, to finding success in this field, in any form. Be it getting that first story sold or a novel deal or a movie option. All that stuff is generated from years of toil and heartache and relentless output. For every story sale, I've had double-digit rejections. For every small win, a hundred tough losses.
The way I get through all the hard, crappy times is to forget about everything else but the work. I push away all the noise--frustration at seeing others succeed where I failed, endless heartbreaking rejections, fears of not making it, or the idea that nothing lies ahead but shattered dreams.
Instead, it's just me and the story. And that's like a life raft that I can climb into during a storm, and ride safely until that next harbor of promise comes up on the horizon. And, man, then I row as hard as I can--push and push and push--and hope like hell to get there.
Point of all this is to say that no one is doing as well as you think (well, almost no one). That nothing comes easy and, unfortunately, no one is going to make it happen for you. When you get frustrated, or despair, that's when you gotta dig deep and do the work. Eventually, it will pay off, and then you can share the good news, and I can't wait to hear it.