The Agony and the Ecstacy of Writing
"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." – Ernest Hemingway
It’s been six years since I started my YA fantasy novel, Elderflower.
Six years.
In that time, my wife and I have had four kids, I’ve started a business, lost some hair—and I’m still working on it.
It’s been a long, slow, torturous road—by far the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.
BUT!
It’s also been the most satisfying and thrilling journey I’ve ever undertaken. Magic, high adventure, shocking plot twists, heartbreak, and thrilling discoveries—everything I crave in a novel, I experience even more intensely as a writer.
Yes, writing can be painful. I’ve given up many times. Yet, somehow, I keep coming back to my keyboard to bleed.
If you’re a struggling writer toiling away in despair, here’s my advice: learn to love the process.
Don’t focus on ‘finishing the novel’ or getting published. They’re destinations, the road. Learn to love the journey. The day-in, day-out grind. Learn to love the endless possibilities of the blank page.
Like everything in life, it’s not the situation that determines how you feel—but your attitude. So, cultivate a little gratitude. Relish in the struggle.
Perhaps this all rings a little trite or a clique, but as someone who has written a 144,000+ word fantasy novel (and that’s the ruthlessly trimmed version!), I know it to be true.
Don’t give up.
Learn to love it.
As always, if you forget everything—just keep writing!
C. S. Laundy
Clinical Psychologist & Fantasy Author
