Drafted: 3/20/2024
We’ve come this far.
Thank you to my over-half-a-decade laptop for not giving out on me, Google Docs for not crashing, and NaNo for stressing me with my deadlines by simply existing.
To the slumps and bouts with doubting everything, you can eat my dust while you rot.
A Wild Ride Indeed
There are days and weeks when you feel like a machine, chugging through 4,908 words in 15 days, which is the best run in my book, bestowing upon myself generous extra points since it was the holidays. Then comes the subsequent period when you forget all about your draft because . . . life. And school. And extracurriculars. And committee work.
Sometimes, you get discouraged, comparing yourself to people who’ve “made it”—who finished their drafts in 60 days or less, who have been writing for years, and who can juggle three drafts and other responsibilities like a champ. Those who know what they’re doing lightyears better than you.
Who are lightyears better than you.
Oops, wait a second. Wrong post. Self-deprecation is scheduled for 30 minutes from now.
Ahem, sorry about that. There’s a but meant there. Let’s try that again.
Who are lightyears better than you, but, as my Pinterest board of writing quotes says . . .
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
Terry Pratchett
“You fail only if you stop writing.”
Rad Bradbury
“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”
Margaret Atwood
You can be sure a heartbroken me pinned those to her board after an emotional drop from thinking her writing was flawless to rereading what she wrote. Why do I mention that a lot? I never learn my lesson.
But if you’re a writer, don’t you, too? Don’t you keep writing even when you don’t believe anything you say has value? Don’t you keep writing even when it seems impossible to get anywhere with it?
As far as I know, we all go through these mental obstacles (thanks, Pinterest!). If you feel alone or discouraged, maybe remember not every short story out there is Pulitzer-prize worthy. Not every piece will become critically acclaimed.
And whatever small step you take toward completing your goal is still one step closer to THE END. If anyone hasn’t told you yet, congratulations. You’ve reached whatever point you’re in on your writing journey without becoming bald from constant hair-pulling. (I hope.)
Ultimately, the world needs more writers. We’ve stuck with this masochistic road this long, so why stop now, right?
Thank you for reading!
Future-but-pretty-much-present me here. This post is pretty outdated since I made this decision recently that, well. . . Eh, we’ll talk about that later. (Later as in, 30 minutes from now.)
If I was too vague, the “hitting 25k” part was for my Swan Lake word count. I wanted to celebrate 20k at first but somehow postponed this post long enough to reach 25k before releasing this. This is nearly a month later than its original draft on March 20 last month and then again with the new milestone on March 31, but who’s keeping track? Ha. Haha.
Now, excuse me, I must make more content for you all.
A Christian Kid's Journal 