Why We Don’t Walk Away
Do you ever just want to give up on your writing? Throw in the towel? Walk away?
Yeah, me too.
A lot.
Welcome to the writing world!
I’m not sure why we put ourselves through the ringer like we do—okay, I do know, and it’s most likely because those damn characters in your head won’t shut up. But still, they don’t make it easy, do they? Some of those characters may waltz out of our head and onto the page fully formed, but not all of them. Some of them know their story and the structure is clear, but not all of them. Some of them may have a clear, distinct voice and know how and what they want to say, but not all of them.
No wonder we want to fold.
But then, I bet you’ve met some pretty challenging (real) people in your day. I bet you’ve had difficult fights with even your most cherished loved ones, too. Conflict is a part of life—that’s why conflict is a part of stories—so why would we think any different about the writing process?
We don’t walk away from our loved ones (no matter how crazy they seem to make us!) so we won’t walk away from our characters.
That’s why we keep going. We pick up the hand that we’ve been dealt, and we keep playing.