Thursday, June 2, 2011

Hard Work Ahead

Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you – as if you haven't been told a million times already – that writing is harder.  Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching.
~ Harlan Ellison
 
 
 
Yep! Validation. Writing. Is. Hard. You aren't imagining it. IT'S HARD. Butt-numbing, hand-cramping, make-your-eyes-bleed hard.

But I don't think it has to be lonely anymore. We have each other. 
 
Without all of you, I'd probably have given up long ago. I like to think I wouldn't have, that I want it badly enough to go on alone, but I don't think I'd still be here. But I'M NOT LONELY. 
 
I email Valerie Geary, my CP. I blog until I feel better. I cry to Shannon "#1" Messenger. I visit The Bookshelf Muse and Ink Spells and Writer's Ally and Heather's Odyssey and 100 others. You don't have to feel like you're in it alone, either.

When your butt goes numb 
and 
your hand cramps 
and 
your eyes bleed, 
 
who do YOU turn to?

18 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Charlie!! :-)

Take care
x

Kittie Howard said...

I plop on the sofa with a good read and escape.

Lovely post!

Anonymous said...

I read blogs and take inspiration from what others are blogging about.

Natalie Aguirre said...

I would have quit too without blogger friends like you. And yes, writing is such hard work. We do it for the love of writing, not for the money.

Anonymous said...

I read, mibble, and when we weren't in a drought, I would do a little gardening.

Anonymous said...

Oops, I meant nibble...sorry

Megan K. Bickel said...

I step away and go play with my kids. Then I remember why I'm doing it and try again!

Valerie Geary said...

If we lived closer we could give each other butt massages...wait...WHA...??!!! :D Bahahaha!

Carolyn V said...

It's so true. Writing is dang hard!!! Sometimes I wonder why I picked doing this. But I love it.

When I'm ready to give up, I turn to my fav crit buddy. She seems to give me the umph to continue. =)

Anonymous said...

I needed this today! I love the quote you chose. Reading how others continue even though it is hard keeps me inspired.

Barbara Watson said...

Ahhhh. Love this post. Because writing IS hard! My writerly friends, whether internet folks or face-to-face people, keep me inspired. Because you all get it.

Jo Schaffer Layton said...

(= Yay!

Heidi Willis said...

So true! I'd like to think I would have wanted it badly enough to keep at it without anyone, but once those rejections start rolling in... I don't know. I sure needed my crit group there to tell me not to give up!

It's one thing to have good friends, but I need good friends who also write and know how lonely the process can be.

Mary Aalgaard said...

Your blog, of course, and my best writer-mama-pal Roxane, and an artist soulmate named JeMA, and various others who get it when I feel like an angst-filled artist.

Sara {Rhapsody and Chaos} said...

My CPs. And my husband. And my cats. And... basically anyone who will let me vent and talk me down from the "I suck as a writer" ledge :)

Kelly H-Y said...

Great post ... you are so right!!! For me, it's my hubby or one of my writing group buddies.

Golden Eagle said...

Blogs. Or a book. :)

Awesome post!

Stephanie Thornton said...

When I need an online pick-me-up I come here or to Tricia O'Brien's blog--virtual sunshine!

And I know all about the hand-cramping--I just blogged about that!

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