Just Keep Going

Yesterday, my husband and I went to pick up my dead laptop, which bit the dust on Tuesday. I've had a roller-coaster week, but most of my files have been saved ... except for ten years' worth of written journal entries. I'm going to keep my old laptop and send it in to some professional data people at some point in the future, but for now, Gordon (my old laptop) rests in peace.

As Erik and I were driving along the misty cold November roads of Maine, our conversation happened upon a subject I've been thinking a lot about this year - overcoming discouragement at not achieving small victories, and instead sticking it out over the long haul, even if there could be no chance of a huge payoff.

It's a bit discouraging, don't you think? He and I were talking about how regular school doesn't really prepare students for real life, since real life is rather quiet, unglamorous, and requires sustained effort. Whereas school rewards small victories and short-term goals like acing a test each semester, passing in short papers, completing short essays. These small goals boost self-esteem, but also give you the false impression that you'll always have small goals that will be easily obtainable, readily available, and a cinch to tuck under your belt, so that you can just move on to the next one.

Well, uh, that isn't the case ... especially with writing.

The most successful writers are not the smartest, or the ones with the most talent, or the kindest or the 'best.' They're just the ones who stuck it out. No matter what. No matter what.

To tell the truth, I've had a lot of disappointments this year. I've had a lot of disappointments overall with my writing. When I started my first major novel when I was sixteen, I thought I'd be the next Stephen King (not with horror, but you know what I mean!). I dreamt big. I wanted my stories known around the country, my characters famous, my books made into movies and beloved by millions. Kind of like the world writers like Stephenie Meyer, J. K. Rowling and Nicholas Sparks are living in right now ...

Has it happened to me? No. Will it? I still hope it will, 12 years after dreaming that teenaged dream. But it hasn't yet.

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but so is failure. I haven't quit writing, and my love for it was only reinforced to such a deep soul-level this week as I stared at the blank screen of my computer and wept for my lost files.

Writers, you just keep going. Sometimes that's all I can tell myself, as the months tick by and my dream seems farther away than ever. Sometimes those three words - just keep going - are all that separates me from deleting everything and throwing in the towel. I keep writing. I keep going.

Writers, don't fall victim to chasing short-term goals and tiny victories. Don't think that just because you sold one copy means that the second one will sell. Don't stop. Just ... keep ... going.

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What this Class is About:

Understanding that the real key to writing success is not being the smartest writer or the wittiest writer, but the writer who kept going.

What You Can Do:

*Think of your biggest writing dream. The really big one. The one that makes your little inner cynic dig in her heels and say, "Wait, no, that's too big." Yeah, that dream.
*Now work towards it. Every day.
*Just keep going.