By Carol Guthrie Heilman
After a sleepless night,
a writer bolted upright among scrambled sheets. She threw up her hands and
yelled, “I quit!”
I can relate. My writing
has come to a screeching halt more times than I care to admit.
Months after I submitted
a brilliant synopsis and the first three chapters of a dazzling novel, I
received a form rejection letter. What were they thinking?
After a month-long hissy
fit, I took another look at my manuscript and slowly began to edit and rewrite.
I attended writers’ conferences, joined a critique group, and kept writing.
That novel has never seen the light of day, but it may someday. More
importantly, my writings slowly improved.
Newspapers and magazines
began to accept some of my family stories.
One day my mother said,
“We don’t have any secrets any more!” My daddy hugged me close and said,
“When’s your next one coming out?” My writings had acquired an admirer. My
first.
The process to perfect
any writing skills took years before I had a book published. Whew! I had
arrived, or so I thought. Then one day I received a scathing review. Cut to the
core of my soul, I believed the angry, ugly words and again could not write. I
shut myself down to escape the pain. The voices in my head convinced me I
wouldn’t recover from what I saw as a humiliation. All that work for this?
Besides, I was fast approaching old age. Did I really want the stress of being
vulnerable to a pack of wolves? Yes, I had overreacted, but I had lost all
logical thinking at this point.
Finally I reached the
end of my rope, the end of myself.
I gave up . . .
Trying to control
things I could not. Bad reviews might hurt for a short time, but now I try to
learn from them and keep moving forward.
I gave up . . .
Allowing my fears of
never being good enough to paralyze me until I couldn’t breathe, much less
write.
And I gave up . . .
Thinking my work
is better, or worse, than it is. Now I love revisions because they allow me to
step back and see my writing again with new eyes. Re-vision.
Writers work hard and we
dream and plan and dream some more about becoming successful in the eyes of the
world. If that’s all we strive for, we will always fall short. We will never
have enough good reviews, or book sales, or awards.
I’m a natural born
worrier, but when I fret and stew and agonize over any writing that is finished
and out of my hands, I am not trusting God to use it for His purposes, not
mine.
Sir Winston Churchill
and Agnes Hopper—a senior, spunky protagonist in my books—have both been known
to say: Never, never, never give up!
Great advice.
My writer friend who
shouted “I quit” into the early morning darkness was not giving up on writing,
though she had considered doing just that in times past. No, she had finally
surrendered her work to the God of the Universe whose plans are to bless us, not
to harm us, and to give us a future and a hope.
What about you? Have you
ever closed your computer or laid down your pen and said, “I’m finished with
this writing business.”
Writing can be hard,
lonely, and heart wrenching at times. But you do not have to walk your pathway
alone. Let us hear from you.
Carol
Guthrie Heilman, a coal
miner's daughter, married her high school sweetheart, a farmer's son. She began
writing family stories, especially about her dad's Appalachian humor, for
newspapers and magazines. One day her mother said, "We don't have any
secrets any more!" Carol's book series, Agnes Hopper Shakes Up Sweetbriar
and Agnes Hopper Bets on Murder, was inspired by her mother's
spunky spirit and her dad's humor. She has recently moved, along with her
husband of fifty-plus years, from the mountains of NC to Charleston, SC. They love to play cards, go antiquing, hike, and visit
grandsons on the east and west coasts. Her social media links: Website: www.carolheilman.com Author Page: amazon.com/author/carolheilman Facebook www.facebook.com/carolgheilman
Twitter: twitter.com/CarolHeilman
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