Insecure Writer’s Support Group Wednesday
Happy IWSG day! Yes, the
once a month “howl our fears at the moon” day for writers from across the globe.
Today my insecurity stems from a fear that
the soul-sucking nature of our business will permanently drag me down. Let me get
one thing clear—I LOVE to write. When left
to my own happy little devices I am a purring writer clam.
But I am also a writer who wants her work
read someday. Read by more than just a handful
of folks. Which means dealing with the business end of things.
I have four books that are ready, able, and
willing to go play in the outside world. And a few forays have been made—lots of interest,
but no one who LOVES them the way I do (and to be honest the way an editor or agent
needs to). I’ll get nibbles-even big nibbles—then they don’t work out. And it sucks a little bit of my soul out. For those
of you who are Princess Bride fans, it’s like that damn Albino is working on me
with that machine.
After a few such “almost there- so damn close’s”
I start to slide into a funk. And I can’t
work on any of my work because the editor side of my brain starts judging everything
at that point.
I know that I am a good writer and I know
that “playing the game” is part of it—even if one goes for Indie Pub instead of
New York. But I just can’t seem to get my
heart and psyche to agree it comes with the business.
So that’s my fear for this month—that the
business of publishing will kill my joy of writing.
