Writing Horrors

Be a writer, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

Actually no. No one EVER told me to be a writer.

I made the choice myself, despite how many people told me NOT to be a writer.

I've heard multiple times that it doesn't make money, that you can't have a profession out of writing, and on and on and on.

It is not easy. It is not fun at times. I sometimes have to force myself to write.

I have way too many thoughts and ideas in my head but by the time I go to write them down...poof! All gone. Vanished without a trace, never to return.

I have about 10 open projects and 10 new ideas, and I have 3-4 projects that I'm currently juggling and trying to finish, but I keep getting distracted by all the other projects and great ideas that keep popping up in my head.

It grows quite tiresome, really.

The picture above of the man sitting with his hands over his face at his computer is a very accurate portrayal of what I do half the time I try to write. Either I write continuously or I don't write at all. Or again, I force myself to write. Then I have to rewrite that because it was complete garbage.

All of this probably sounds terrible or confusing. And it is. Writing is a very confusing process and can sometimes drive you insane. But there's a really amazing plus side to being a writer.

You're in charge of creating whatever world you want: the characters, the setting, the plot, the twists, etc. Everything is at your disposal and your command.You are solely in charge of an entire world and new ideas, a new plot. You decide when to begin and when to end it, and how it ends.

And the ability to be able to creatively think up of an entire world, well that's a talent not every person has.

Writing isn't easy. It's a hard job. It's not enough to write good stories, they have to be great stories. If they aren't great, you aren't recognized as a writer. And don't even get me started on the rejection letters or the conflict of writing something other people disagree with.

A really wonderful book I've read (thank you Sean!) by Jeff Goins called "You Are A Writer (so start ACTING like one)," really hits hard on how life is like as a writer. If you aren't fully committed and love the craft of writing, it'll be that much harder to do this job. Because as a writer fully committed and full of love for writing, it is still an incredibly hard and trying calling.

Jeff Goins explains it this way: "They don't tell you how writing takes more hours and energy than you'll ever be able to plan for. That no one cares about you as a writer until you've actually written something. That what you write isn't as important as getting your work in front of the right people. That, above all, if you don't love it, you're kind of screwed."

Ahh, how hopeful and wonderful it sounds.

But Jeff Goins also mentions in his book that writing is a noble calling. To a fellow writer, that is a very comforting thought. Writing isn't easy, but it is rewarding. Being proud of a finished work, getting excited over a plot twist, or even getting sad that a project is over, is all rewarding as a writer.

Writing is in no way an easy profession, and a majority of times it isn't even a money-making profession. But with enough courage, perseverance, and determination, we can make it. I can make it.

I do a lot of writing. I write every day. Bad or good, I write. I rewrite. I edit. I scrap ideas. I scrap whole chapters or sections. I add new parts to enhance the first draft. I cringe at my old writing but marvel at how much I grow as a writer.

But I do all of this because I love to write. I love writing in multiple forms. It is a gift God has blessed me with - even if it is a challenging gift.

I don't know how I'll start. I don't know when I'll make it. But even with all it's horrors and difficulties, I know I'll make it as a writer one day for two reasons. One is because I know this is what I've been called to do.

The other is because I've come too far to turn back now.