A Writer's Life

The life of a writer is many things. One thing you can be sure of is, if the writer is dedicated and passionate about their craft, they would not trade the writer's life for anything.

The life of a writer is hectic and sometimes even a little psychotic. Characters constantly running marathons inside a writer's head trying desperately to convey their story in hopes that the writer will listen and retell it to others. The writer running around their real world trying to find the time to tell the stories. The writer's family doing all they can to stay out of the writer's way so he or she can get the stories on the page. The writer finally completing a work and then setting it aside to review and edit at a later date. In the mean time, the writer will have more characters with more stories than need to be told. Again, the writer will scramble around their day job, loose sleep, drink too much coffee or too much alcohol, smoke to many cigarettes (if they smoke), ignore their family, ignore their dog or cat, all for the sake of getting words on a page once again. Finally, they get back to the story they put away to brew alone in a drawer so they can look at it again and pick it apart and maybe even rewrite it. After about a year, or two, or three, or maybe longer, the writer is finally happy with their accomplishment.  Well, happy enough, anyway. The writer will then muster up all of their stored courage to attempt to contact agents and publishers. Then, they wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Weeks, sometimes months later, they begin to receive the all fearing form rejection letters.  One by one the letters begin to flow through the silent, sad mailbox by the curb.  One by one, the writer opens them up, hoping that "the one" is the next one they open. Sadly, though, "the one" did not come.  Discouraged with themselves and the craft, the writer will sometimes stop doing what they loved so much. But not for long.

Why the Hell would a person put themselves through this pain and heartache, you ask? Love. One simple little word, but that simple little word packs so many meanings for people, including writers. The love of the written word and the love to tell a story are just a couple of the reasons writers will continue to torture themselves and continue to write no matter how many of those rejection letters they receive. I have been there and I have done that! Writing for me is more than just telling a story for others to read. Writing is therapeutic, writing is an escape from stress, and writing is my passion. I have been discouraged and as a result I have given up writing for a short time, only to be drawn in again. It's my drug. I can't shake it and I don't want to.

I have been given a gift to tell stories and I intend to use it to write my stories for others to enjoy. The stacks of rejection letters that I still have in a box in my closet is what has driven me to complete my next novel by January of 2012 and self publish it later in 2012. That is my goal and I am driven to reach it. My message to any other writers out there is to do the same. My challenge to you is NEVER give up on your dream to tell whatever stories your characters demand you tell.