How do you do it?
How do you go on day after day? Word after word? Story after story with no guarantee of success? You sit down time after time and put words on the page never knowing if those words will see the light of day. You may never have accolades. You may never be well known outside of your small circle of friends and family, but you still press on.
How? What is the secret to your tenacity? I'm asking for a friend. Full disclosure, some days, I'm asking for me. What is the "why" behind what you do that makes what you do so...doable?
I'm sure you've had those days. It's wet, it's cold. You've been soaked to the bone and ruined your favorite shoes. There's nothing in the fridge so you order takeout-and they deliver burned food. It's just one of those days you want to end. Then you get that little notification that says the agent/publisher read your submission. You click on it with eager fingers and get that oh, so recognizable form letter that says you've been declined...again.
It stinks.
But you don't give up.
You're still a card carrying, devoted member of the five o'clock in the morning writer's club. You still churn out your stories, your novels and your novellas. You still cheer on your fellow writers and help them celebrate their milestones.
What is the secret to your endurance? What is this tiny flame that insists on flickering in the soul of every creative that forces us to create even if it's only for us? You've seen the evidence; doodles on the gum wrappers, poems on the table napkin even the limericks on the bathroom stalls. What drives one to carry out this madness for no reason at all?
What about those who firmly desire to earn a living this way. What if it never happens? That tiny flame never dies. It's always there, tickling the back of our brains with ideas and dreams. It fuels a desperate tenacity that won't let us give up.
How many times have you tried to quit? Really? How many times have you stepped away and sworn you were never going to enter a fictional world again and yet found yourself doing just that. Creating new characters. Building new kingdoms. Breathing life into the unknown by bringing the unknown into our lives.
Is it tenacity? Is it madness? Or is this who you're meant to be? A fighter. A scrappy little get 'er doner.
Even if you don't get the multi-million dollar deal.
Keep at it.
We are all waiting on you.