The Place For My Writers Notes

Original Posting 12 August 2009

riters' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Be the writer who stays in the chair. When you struggle to find the answers to the tricky questions posed by your story, when you push through the feeling that the piece is no longer as inspired or wonderful as it seemed at first blush, you push your project to its next level. And you push yourself forward as a writer." Jack Heffron

Interesting advice. Especially given the tendency to try to provide "idiot proof" guidance for almost everything, it's refreshing to be reminded that everything isn't always exciting or simple. Sometimes you have to struggle to figure things out. Sometimes you have to keep going even when the project doesn't feel cool or fun -- that commitment to keep going is part of the process.

I wonder if this isn't part of what divides the hobbyists from the professionals? I mean, hobbyists tend to want to do the fun stuff, but don't really have a reason to do the boring stuff. Professionals take a slightly longer view and do the whole job, including the tedious and boring parts.

Struggle, push, keep going -- it sounds like the advice we give our protagonists when they face that dark alley on the way to the goal, doesn't it? Still, it's the way we get things done. Step-by-step, stumbling, struggling, working our way through things.

It sort of makes the achievement worthwhile, doesn't it? If it was easy, would it be worth it?