The Writer’s Strength

When I first started out wanting to write, it was all about what was possible. I thought that if I was determined enough I could become what I wanted to be and do what I wanted to do.

Determination (Photo credit: The philosopherالفيلسوف)

What people don’t tell you is that no one may ever believe that you will be a writer. Most people will never think it’s possible and will never understand the belief and desire you have that you can do it. It can be very difficult for writers, especially as time goes by and solid results of publication aren’t produced. I went through a difficult time a few years ago where everything got on top of me. I began to struggle more than ever to believe as what I wanted seemed to slip further and further away. I started this blog in difficult times because I wanted to give other writers the encouragement that I felt our culture lacks.

Determination (Photo credit: Dana Lookadoo – Yo! Yo! SEO)

There are so many reality programmes and news specials telling us everything that is wrong with our culture. There is so much media about what can’t be done in difficult times, about how people are struggling. No one ever seems to talk about what can be achieved, nobody seems to want to remind us how people can do great things. Think of people who done amazing things, Martin Luther King Jr, writers who people wrote off early that have become important figures in our society. These people add something to life and most of the time it was because they believed in trying to something positive, even if they did not know whether they would succeed. I think trying is the whole point.

Too many people want to tell us what’s not possible, what’s wrong with the world but it only takes one person who doesn’t stop trying to inspire a generation. That’s the real purpose of this blog, to keep me writing, to keep others writing, to give people hope to keep trying.

So today I printed out my full, first manuscript. I’ve written novellas before this and two novels after this but this was the first full-length novel I wrote and took me ten years to complete and edit in its entirety.

Determination (Photo credit: Andy Ciordia)

Many things happened to detour me from writing this novel, computer malfunctions, removing fifty pages and starting all over at an early point, lack of a computer or money to buy one, typing up pages and pages of hand-written work and having to justify each line from DOS into MS-Word. I started out with only paper and a pen, I moved onto a typewriter, then a DOS PC and then Word.  Now I’m handwriting again and typing up. It’s the long way but it feels like a return to something. If I had thought that I couldn’t do it, that  490 page, double-spaced manuscript wouldn’t be sitting on a laundry basket in my bedroom.

The point is don’t think about it as being impossible. One writer, working alone, can achieve a lot more than anyone can imagine. Let that be your strength. Let any doubt people give you spur you on.

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