A while back I asked Jamie Todd Rubin why he read my blog to which he replied that he got some satisfaction knowing that he was not the only writer beset by the devils of self-doubt, remorse, elation, and disappointment. It seems we all ride the same roller coaster of emotions and agonies as our WIP ever falters on the brink of failure. I suspect the same is true of you out there who read this blog, who find yourself filled with doubt, wondering if you can get one more story published, one more draft successfully completed, one more scene working just right; that you can finally find precisely the right word on the tenth revision and know that something is finally working right. On the one hand I hope reading these posts lets you know you are not alone and, on the other, I despair that there should be so much misery about something at once creative and revelatory.
Mid year I wrote Shout Out to note where my blogspot map lit up each week. Since then I've seen more places light up, indicating that there is at least one writer in each distant country reading about my agonies and ecstasies. Do you distant readers endure these same, terrible writer's afflictions? Are there really that many of you writers in Russia, Japan, Venezuela, India, Bahamas, Germany, Iceland, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States who feel the same?
Let me know by a comment now and then, just to let me know I'm not being hit by spambots instead of actual living, breathing people.
By the way, I've made my numbers for this year - six stories placed so far.
Mid year I wrote Shout Out to note where my blogspot map lit up each week. Since then I've seen more places light up, indicating that there is at least one writer in each distant country reading about my agonies and ecstasies. Do you distant readers endure these same, terrible writer's afflictions? Are there really that many of you writers in Russia, Japan, Venezuela, India, Bahamas, Germany, Iceland, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States who feel the same?
Let me know by a comment now and then, just to let me know I'm not being hit by spambots instead of actual living, breathing people.
By the way, I've made my numbers for this year - six stories placed so far.
Congrats on making your numbers! I published just the one Daily SF story this year, but I've sold at least SIX stories/articles that will appear in 2013. So far. I'm hoping to keep up the momentum for 2014.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a spam bot! I found you one SFWA writing website yesterday. I'm a new writer, still working on my first piece to submit professionally. I'm learning that I'm not the only one who experiences stress. It was a relief to learn I wasn't alone. Keep it up Sparhawk.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found me, Kristen. I hope you find something helpful in my older posts as well.
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