Is writing a miserable, awful business?
Ask the writer sitting in front of the blank screen, staring at the blinking cursor, struggling to begin his piece—his deadline two days away.
Ask the writer who opened her email inbox to see a rejection from her dream publication.
Ask the writer whose friends keep forwarding a scathing review of his recently released novel, “Have you seen this?”
Ask the writer whose idea was scooped, whose family keeps asking when she’ll actually make money from her writing, whose striving for excellence tips into perfectionism and paralyzes her creativity.
Stay with it.
Those who push past those miserable, awful moments can join with Ann Patchett and attest that writing is a marvelous thing. To write—to be a writer—is an honor, a challenge, a joy.
It is better than anything in the world.
“Writing is a miserable, awful business. Stay with it. It is better than anything in the world.”
— Ann Patchett
Source: Patchett, Ann. This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 2013. Print. (Library)
Related Reading:
- Browse the growing collection of Writing Quotes
- Under “Write” in September 2015’s Curiosity Journal, I highlight some of Ann Patchett’s essay from which this quote came.
Image design by Isabelle Kroeker.
___________________________________
52 Creative Writing Prompts: A Year of Weekly Prompts and Exercises to Boost Your Creativity
Sure, you can poke around the Internet collecting writing prompts and creative writing exercises.
Or you could buy an ebook that collects them for you in one place.
Convenient.
Inspiring.
Affordable.
Ann,
God is gracious as I’m having one of those days and wondering if I should chuck my project, you know the one…but I know this feeling will pass 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Keep your vision in front of you, the reader, the goal. Bless you.