The photo above would be funny if it weren't so sad. I found it on my facebook page yesterday and wanted to share with you here instead of on facebook. I've tried to find the writing group that posted it but couldn't locate it. Perhaps some of you have also seen it. I laughed when I first saw it and then did a lot of thinking.
Writers all start with high hopes and great expectations about what their writing life will bring. Fame! Money! Recognition! Awards! Personal satisfaction! Certainly, we all daydream of achieving at the top rung of the ladder to success. Many do reach it. You and I can both make a list of authors whom we love who have done so. Even those writers started at the bottom and climbed and climbed and climbed before they hit the top.
As writers, we expect:
- to have our writing published
- to have editors respond in a reasonable amount of time
- to deal with rejections--we know it's part of the writing world
- to be a better writer as we move through the writing journey
- to work hard--very hard
- to have readers or reviewers who don't like our writing--it's inevitable
- to have occasional writer's block
- to have to search for inspiration
- to sometimes be frustrated
- to make some money
- to win or place in a writing contest
- to get bogged down in the middle of a writing project
- to get great joy from the act of writing
- to grow as a writer
My list includes both negatives and positives. Hopefully, we can dwell on the plus side more often than the minus end.
It's perfectly fine to have those high hopes and great expectations but remember that it takes hard work, patience and perseverance to realize the good part of our writing life. Keep plugging away and climb that ladder one rung at a time.
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