Finding Joy in Writing
Is there a part of writing that, no matter how you try to psyche yourself up, you simply dread it? Brainstorming? Drafting? Revision? Querying? Marketing? (All of the above?? 🙂 )
While there are always challenges at every stage, the hope is that you can find a way through them, back to enjoyment. But what if you constantly feel like you’re hitting your head against a brick wall because everyone has told you this is what you have to do at that writing stage?
Do something different.
No writer out there has a magic bullet. No writer out there has all your answers. I have my writing process; you have yours. Learning about other authors can help you figure out your own method and style, but there’s no checklist.
That’s both daunting and freeing. I’ve worked with writers who struggle with their genre—until they let go of what they “should” be doing and write what they want instead. Fiction to memoir. Mystery to romance. I’ve had clients switch up age groups. Middle-grade to young-adult. Adult to middle grade. Writer friends have been convinced they’d query literary agents, only to decide self-publishing was right for them. Colleagues have shut down newsletters because they don’t feel authentic to them.
If finding joy in our writing is our goal, then all our paths may look different. I’ll share with you what I’ve learned, and you share with me what you’ve learned.
That’s the way to pull back from that brick wall and find joy again.