02 Am I good enough? Will this be worth it?
And other questions I continue to ask myself as a writer
Current word count: 52,589
Monthly goal: 6,500
February achievement so far: 2,273
End of manuscript goal (minimum): 85,000
Writing is both an enjoyable yet torturing process. Ask any writer and they will most likely agree, as much as they may not want to admit it.
Why? Because no one is asking us to write anything. But it is who you are.
Abigail Bergstrom’s latest SubStack post (Who Cares?) couldn’t have surmised this feeling more perfectly. Every word spoke to me, concluding that writers don’t write as some self-inflicted torture, but it is truly who we are.
It’s pretty much you, your brain and your laptop (or notebook if you prefer – I find this helps break things up when the Block hits).
Maybe you can see your story right before your eyes. Then you try to explain it to someone close to you, only for them to smile and nod at you. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know what else to say. As long as you’re doing something that’s making you happy. They don’t want to be the one to reject you – nor do they have the right to. You know you’re surrounded by positivity when they support what you’re doing and give you honest feedback.
If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Imagine if JK Rowling gave up after being rejected 12 times? Or Stephen King, 30 times?
You may often think to yourself:
· Who is this for?
· Why am I doing this?
· Is it even good enough?
· Will anyone like this – do *I* even like it?
But if it was easy, everyone would do it. You may have forgotten why you started in the first place as it’s been so long juggling it with everything else (called life).
Ask yourself – why? Why are you writing this?
Why am I a writer?
Having drafted many stories in multiple notebooks, word documents and on my blog, to see my work published would be the dream. To hold a copy in my hands. Years of work and craft in one place. A story of its own.
That’s the beauty of books. Something so subjective as your imagination takes over, all from reading the same words on a page.
It’s not like maths, where there is only 1 answer to 1+1 (no, the answer is not window). All it takes is one sentence or one character to change the entire course of your story.
It’s a pure craft. A painstakingly, rewarding one.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What is your why?