I have a drive—the drive to always improve. I’m never satisfied
with my writing life.
That doesn't mean I’m not happy with my writing, but
there's always room for improvement.
I dunno. I guess that's just part of my
personality. I'm never completely content with my sales, my reviews, or the
writing itself. I always think they can be more! And it’s true … they can
be.
Writing is like farming. Neither writers nor farmers can control
all that happens. Farmers can cultivate, plant, prune, and fertilize and then
it's out of their hands. The type of soil, the amount of moisture falling from
the sky, or the destruction of the crop by pests are mostly (totally?) in God’s
hands. The harvest is dependent on more than their efforts, no matter how
skillful they might be.
And so it is with writers. We prepare to write, “the
cultivating,” by learning our craft, reading widely, and gaining knowledge and
world experience. We then write, “the planting.” After the rough draft, we edit
our work, “the pruning.” And then we get input from others, beta readers,
editors, perhaps even publishers, “the fertilizer.” Once our book is published,
we writers must step back and await the harvest. We have done all we can do and
now external factors come into play.
Writers, like successful farmers, must learn to be stoic,
patient in times of drought, persevering when locusts devour their plants, and
grateful, no matter the harvest.
To persevere, to be contented in their
profession, farmers must learn to operate on an even keel, just as writers need
to learn to be neither hyped when success comes nor depressed when sales
drop.
And I'm not so much interested in money or success as I am in
leaving something my ancestors can be proud of, something that will bring a
smile to someone's face, something that will help someone overcome a bad
time.
And so I will be like the farmer and continue to plant, continue
to toil, and learn to be stoic.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.