Writing is Tough

By Crystal Klimavicz

Writing is tough. Anyone who tells you something different may be lying. For most of us, writing is demanding, onerous, and exhausting. And hopefully, we love every moment of it.

As a woman, I view writing novels akin to giving birth. You’re full of excitement in the beginning when it’s all brand new. But as the months wear on, you feel weighted down and the joy is replaced with reality as the real work kicks in. Giving birth requires us to dig deep within ourselves to get through the process.

Some may ironically argue that writing and then editing a manuscript feels much the same.

Like those births, though, we somehow forget and inevitably move on. We seem not to remember the uncertainty, the fear, and the hurt involved with having children. Women have more babies and go through another nine months of carrying and the pain of bearing, again and again.

Writers also start anew, creating a different set of characters and forming unique plot ideas, designing new conflicts and different resolutions, all as if the pain of the writing process had never been experienced before.

I recently discovered a quote, “The greatest part of your road trip isn’t arriving at your destination, but all the wild stuff that happens along the way”, and I couldn’t agree more.  Of course, laying eyes on your final printed book for the first time is rewarding, fulfilling, and perhaps life-changing.

But let us never forget to appreciate the path that brought us there.

Love those early mornings when you wake up before dawn and tap-tap-tap away at your laptop with a steaming cup of coffee nearby. Love the days when the laundry piles up and the dishes remain uncleaned, while you furiously finish out that scene that had outsmarted you for days. And enjoy the late nights when there’s still energy and fire within you, bursting to get out onto the proverbial page. Cherish the first draft, as much as you adore the final. Love the journey, love it all.

The famed American poet, essayist, and journalist of the nineteenth century, Walter “Walt” Whitman once said, “I tramp a perpetual journey”. The definition of tramp is to ‘walk heavily or noisily’; perpetual means ‘never-ending or changing’; and to journey means the ‘act of traveling from one place to another’.

Heed Whitman’s advice, the father of the ‘free verse’ who was ahead of his time. Be loud in your cheer along life’s path; enjoy each moment and don’t restrain. Don’t ever stop moving forward, learning or growing. And, continue the journey through to the end.

Women and writers are resilient. We bear and nurture, we create and we complete.

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Crystal Klimavicz is a novelist from the coasts of Maine who now lives with her husband and two children on an island near Charleston, South Carolina. Though she did request epidurals for both deliveries, she does not fear the scourge of the red pen. She has experienced both pain and joy, and appreciates every moment of the life that she’s been given. Crystal is also the founder of Indie Books Unleashed, a new program that helps indie authors get their books read and reviewed, and she is currently working on her next greatest novel. Her social media links are: Facebook    Author Website  

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