Quick Link: Overcoming the Emotional Obstacles to a Writing Career

Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

What is holding you back in your writing career? It is very appropriate that this article come from Writers In The Storm, as I know there are a lot of writers who struggle with different obstacles to reach their goals. I know for me there are a few fears that I struggle with including, of course, finding time.  Jamie Raintree wrote a great article on how she recognized and over came her fears to be more successful with her writing.

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Overcoming the Emotional Obstacles to a Writing Career

June 22nd, 2016
By Jamie Raintree

I started writing my first novel 8 years ago, almost to the day. (I don’t know why I’ll always remember it was July 12th that I wrote those first fateful words.) I had already been writing for years, mostly short stories and some failed attempts at novels, but there was something about this time that was going to be different.

It wasn’t so much that this story idea was any better than the rest. It was more a state-of-mind. I had recently discovered National Novel Writing Month, and along with that, the realization that yes, truly anyone could write a novel. Before then, it had seemed like a pipe dream–something to poke at in the dark corners of my space and time.

That book did end up becoming my first complete novel, but I still didn’t consider myself a “writer.” I’d managed to find the time over those six months to complete a first draft, but there was still so much I didn’t know. It was still just a “hobby.” I hadn’t made it a priority in my life.

ANSWERING THE CALL

Over the next few years, I had my two girls. Through the exhaustion of two pregnancies and the endless sleepless nights that come with newborns, I continued to write because I couldn’t not write, and because in all the chaos, it was my lifeline.

I didn’t think too hard about what writing would mean for my future–it took every ounce of energy I had just to make it through the day.

When my second (and final, for sure!) daughter turned one, life started to finally settle into a routine. The girls weren’t quite so dependent on me, and with that opportunity to breathe and regroup, I had to take a look at what role writing was going to play in my future. Would it continue to be dirty little secret or was I going to make a career of it? In my heart of hearts, I always knew it would be the latter, but being a young mother had been a convenient (and valid) place for me to hide, avoiding the next step. Because let’s face it, declaring yourself a career writer is scary, and the path is hard. We’ve been hearing since we first picked up the pen that it’s almost impossible to make it in this industry, so why set ourselves up for failure? Why put myself out there for rejection?

Nevertheless, I reluctantly decided to move in that direction. I wasn’t 100% sure it was what I wanted or that it was even possible, but felt like it was time to either sink or swim.