Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I Quit!

Two little words…that carry so much weight and have such huge consequences. We’ve all said them at one time or another. I have several times in many different situations over the years. Sometimes I actually even meant it.

But never when it came to my writing.

How do you quit a dream? How do you quit something that fills you up and keeps you sane? Do you think you’re the only one who’s ever thought of quitting the struggle writers face each day? It doesn’t get any easier after being published either. The words do not magically flow to your fingertips after that first debut novel.

I imagine there were days when J.K. Rowling wanted to poke Harry in the eye, shave Hermione bald, and throw Ron under the nearest trolley. Or maybe Stephen King wanted to take his characters and…wait. Nevermind. He does torture his characters.

But they never quit. Oh, the horror if they had, the loss of all those stories which shaped us, made us believe the impossible and had a hand in forming who we are today.

Breaks are a necessary part of the writing process. Take a step back, catch your breath, mull over the possibilities, or just forget about it for a few weeks so you can recharge the magic. Then get to work again.  Because dreams don't happen if you aren't willing to sweat over them a little, or in some cases, a lot.

Save those other two words for more appropriate situations…like during the last conversation at your day job the morning after the film rights to your best selling novel are sold to the CW.

Then you can scream it. Or put it up in lights. Whatever works for you.




This has been a post for the Insecure Writers Support Group.


Because it’s no fun being nuts all by yourself.

 

11 comments:

  1. That's actually my plan. Sell my bestselling novel to the CW so I can quit my day job at Taco Bell.

    (I'm what you call a "goal-oriented" individual.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a fantastic plan. Although I don't have a day job, and even if I get published as a #1 bestseller I'll still probably finish college. Darn. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad you didn't actually mean "I quit."

    Yeah, we all go through those self-doubt frustrating moments, or months, but dreams being what they are, remain dreams. (What a bunch of double-talk, eh?)

    You always find the best pics.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I tried to quit once. Didn't work. I actually groveled to get my pen back.

    "But they never quit. Oh, the horror if they had, the loss of all those stories which shaped us, made us believe the impossible and had a hand in forming who we are today." << love that. The loss of stories really got to me. What a sad thought.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad to see that there are no quitters here!

    I can't pretend I haven't had days where I have totally felt like quitting. That's when I know I'm burned out and need a break. Usually, after a couple good nights of sleep and copious amounts of chocolate, I'm ready to come back.

    I can't quit writing. What else would I do?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I so love this post. We were definitely on the same page yesterday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I often want to quit my job but never my writing. Ever.

    btw, I have an award for you at my blog if you're interested :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Add a letter to quit and you get "quirt". Add another and you get "squirt". Not sure if this is important, but it had to be said.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh god, the CW! That would be insane! Glad to hear you haven't quite. Maybe I'll try mentally poking my character in the eye the next time they're pissing me off :)
    - http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Writing has often driven me up the wall, but you're right--breaks help to smooth things out so I don't feel like killing off my MC just so I don't have to bother with him/her anymore.

    ReplyDelete

It helps to know I'm not just talking to myself.