Y Is For Yes

Jennifer takes out her pom-poms...

Writing is a solitary endeavor. Sure, we have critique partners and beta readers and fellow authors and supportive friends and family. But when it comes down to it, we sit at our desks (or wherever it is that we write), tune out the world and write. We disappear into our own worlds of our own making, where we control the outcome.

And while we might be really good at solving the problems of our heroes and heroines, we’re not always good at maintaining our resolve. It’s easy to fall victim to our own insecurities, to look at the first draft of our first attempt to get our thoughts on paper and say, “Wow, this is awful!”

Although we might be the first to tell others their draft shows promise and to keep at it, when it comes to telling that to ourselves, we are sadly inept. Not only that, but we take it to the extreme—we will NEVER write anything good again.

So this is for all of us who think we’ll never get over that writer’s block, that our writing is awful and our editors must have been drunk when they sent us a contract, or that we’ll never write ourselves out of the hole we dug ourselves into:

Yes, writing is hard—all things worthwhile are!

Yes, we have talent—although it can always be improved.

Yes, we can do it—don’t give up!

Yes, the end result is worth it—remember that feeling of pride and accomplishment when we finish the book.

Yes, we can do it again—and again, and again and again.