Why Write? by Sara Barnard

Problem. You have written THE story. The one everyone has to read in order for the world to keep turning. 





You exercised show and not tell, trimmed the purple prose as easily as you trimmed the lawn last week. You triple checked your P.O.V and tenses, avoided cliches and all allegorical alliteration and emerged victorious at The Battle of The Writer's Block. Then, you got off Facebook and Pinterest long enough to bring your writer's dream to fruition. 

Now what? 

Three agents' rejections, four publisher "I regret to inform you's", and five snarky beta readers left you wondering why you ever bothered to pick up a pen in the first place. 

Where do you go? What do you do? 

For normal people, they would shrug it off and turn on the t.v. Binge on a Netflix series.

Go out with friends. 

Do something normal. 

For a moment you wish you, too, were normal. Like them. 

Like everyone else. 

Alas, you are not.

Then, it comes. 

The one YES that changes everything. 

Be it from a reviewer, beta reader, agent or publisher. 

Once you connect with that person,

make them feel what you wanted them to feel through your words,

the pen that was so heavy before becomes feather light. 

You're on top of the world. 

And then it starts all over again. 

How do you keep motivated?