The Harsh Reality Of Being A Writer

In 2011, I discovered a passion for writing fictional stories. The need to express my passion for my work was great.

But this was in 2011. My writing has since ripened. My genres have changed from Supernatural to Romance. Little did I know that along with several changes, I would experience the greatest curse any writer could encounter.

We are now in 2020. The years in between my amateur stage was great. I never doubted a word I wrote and I simply thought that this is how it would always be.

But I was wrong. Two months back, I had completed my first proper novel. It wasn't a novella or a short story. It was a complete novel with a back story, middle, and ending.

I was thrilled for a while, but the thrill didn't last long. I realized that if I wanted to be a serious writer, I would have to stop being lazy and get down to work.

I felt as though I had gone mad, planning plots and characters. Fortunately, my synopsis was the easiest thing to do. I opened my phone. I opened my notebook. I got down to work. It sounds pretty simple, right? With this simple method in place, I should probably have five novels complete in the next two years. 

Until I came down to the harsh realization that it just wasn't working out. I didn't want to write anymore, but that wasn't true, because I'd pick up a notebook the very next day and began plotting. Writing has been embedded in my DNA. It was impossible to end now after so much of hard work.

But how could I possibly write if everything I wrote sounded ludicrous in my head as I read line after line? I invested in an app called Jotterpad from the Google Play Store and made little folders of every story idea I've ever had, but haven't written.

There are probably over thirty folders and while it doesn't help that I have so many untouched ideas, it has helped me to prioritize what's important right now.

The endnote is that as a writer, you're not going to enjoy your own work. Maybe you'll love it as you write it, but don't ever make the mistake of reading each chapter over as you finish writing it.

If you write one chapter and keep on reading it, you're probably going to be over-analyzing a good piece of work that'll start to annoy you. But you're wrong. The work is probably good. It's just the human mind creating that self-doubt.

There's no need to self-doubt or constantly seek validation. All you need to do is take a deep breath and write!