Have you ever found yourself at the crossroads of Hope and Despair? Maybe it's a corner in your hometown. Or perhaps it's farther down the road. It's possible that many writers find themself here. Which way should they travel?
Robert Frost's famed poem, The Road Not Taken, ends with these lines:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
What if you, the writer, happened upon these two roads--Hope and Despair--and had to make a choice? What if you were depressed over the lack of success in your writing world? Which road would you take?
If your writing world was filled with many rough spots in the road, it's very likely you'd choose Despair and continue on the same rugged path, the one that offered few rewards. It's probably the easiest one to take because you're quite familiar with it.
But wait! Why not steer your weary feet to the road called Hope? You could just as easily choose it as that miserable one called Despair. The road called Hope is smooth, and it's well-lit. There's something good at the end of this one. The Hope you carry with you helps you traverse this road with a smile on your face.
Does this all sound too fanciful? Maybe, but the fact is that Hope brings us much more than Despair does. Hope means we're going to keep trying, to keep learning our craft, to keep submitting. Hope means we're going to write with confidence. Despair only pulls us down to the probability of failing.
Once again, you're the one in charge. You make the decision which direction to point your feet. Others can try to encourage you, but you are the one to choose which road in your writing life to traverse.
For me, Hope is the only road I will consider. I already know what Despair is like, but Hope calls me loud and clear. How about joining me on the road called Hope?