Psst. Wanna be a Writer? Assume the Burden


Every author/creative person has self-doubt about their work. It’s what makes us who we are and allows us to be creative in the first place. But sometimes that inner critique wheedles deep into the soul and stops us dead in our tracks.

More often than naught this happens mid-way through the first draft when the initial excitement of the project has waned. I stare blindly at the keyboard and wonder what on earth possessed me to ever begin writing this story in the first place. It sucks!

But an author forges ahead. No. Matter. What. Because this is what we do.

Agatha Christie said, "There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well."

Each of us must decide whether or not to assume the burden for whatever it is we chose to do.

For me it’s a no-brainer. I write. I write even when I don’t want to, don’t much like what I’m writing, and aren’t writing particularly well. But I write.

Have you assumed the burden?

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