Weathering Through Good Times and Bad As A Writer

I found this poster on a friend's facebook page this morning. It seemed like good advice for anyone. For writers, it should have significant meaning. 

When you decided you wanted to write, nobody ever told you it would be easy. They didn't tell you to quit your day job and devote your time and effort to writing pieces that are hard to sell. Neither did anyone let you know that, when you have a writing success, the joy is boundless. Nobody told you any of these things.

You had to learn on your own as you plodded your way along your writing path. Some days plod is exactly what you did. Those were the days that the story plot got all mixed-up or your secondary character suddenly took over the story. Or you read your work over and over and still felt like it was a bunch of hogwash.

Other times, you skipped merrily along your writing path. Those were the days when you received good news from an editor or your first book arrived on your doorstep. You skipped along when fan letters arrived or when you spoke publicly about your writing and your audience gave you their full attention. 

There are the ups and downs in all phases of our lives. That is not going to change, nor will it be any different in your writing life. I never known a writer who can claim that his/her writing life flowed like a river right over the rocks and debris it encountered. Nope. You will have the ups and downs whether you are a hobbyist writer or a professional who has numerous books published. 

The point here is that all the good and the bad experiences serve to help us learn and become a stronger person--a stronger writer. It's especially true with the difficult times, the hardest writing projects or the wrangling with a difficult editor. The learning process here can be difficult but maybe that only makes the lesson learned a better one and makes us a stronger person.

We'd all love it if the good times outweighed the bad. Some years that may happen while on others, it seems the bad is far heavier. In the long run, it probably averages out, even if it doesn't feel that way.

Be like Snoopy and Charlie Brown--weather the storms with a smile and benefit from the strength you'll gain along the way.