Papercuts aren’t the writer’s only enemy. There are plenty of terrors that a writer has to face during the struggle to put pen to paper. As if writing itself isn’t challenging enough, we still do it. We persevere and survive our struggles with the characters, plot, and our pens that spill ink all over us. Because we’re writers. That’s what we do. Right? I think. *sigh* I need chocolate.

Sharing is scaring

Letting others read our stories is a necessary part of improving as a writer, no matter if we are published or not. That doesn’t make it any less scary than walking around on a tight rope above an active vulcano while someone throws bananas at us. Other People can be unpredictable and might give feedback that’s not that constructive, and even it is, it can still be devastating. Why? Because our stories are our babies, and we might as well hand our baby to a dragon.

Finish it!

Just sit down and right. It’s my favourite advice that I give to myself. Except that sometimes I get stuck and I can’t unstick myself. I then feel guilty and stupid for not being able to finish my OWN story and it’s a whole vicious cycle, with the emphasis on vicious. If someone has a magic potion that can get a writer through this, I’m willing to sell my magical beans for it.

A New Project

I know, I just mentioned the difficulty of ending a story, but guess what? One of the #writerproblems are also starting a new project. This can be due to an array of reasons. Sometimes there are too many ideas gathered in my head, and how do I choose the story? Or rather, which story will choose me? Sometimes I’ve been chosen, but I don’t know enough yet and need to let it simmer. But let it simmer to long and you lose it. It’s a fine line and it’s difficult to find sometimes.

Agent, Where Art Thou?

One of the tricky things about being a writer and wanting to be published traditionally is that you have to hunt for an agent. The agent can be quite elusive, it’s much like falling in love with The One. Any search for The One is a long and difficult search, but not even that is necessarily the hard part. It is keeping faith and not giving up. Every time you query an agent, it’s like a marriage proposal, but you’re 95% sure that the other person will say no. That’s what it feels like each time.

Despite all of those issues, we still go on. Because writing is our passion, it’s our calling. The Writing Gods own us and their ink flows through our veins. We may suffer, but we write. So, if you see a writer in the wild, be kind to them. And offer them chocolate.