Don’t Stop Dreaming.

The writer life can be hard.

“Duh, Selina. We’re writers. We know.”

Okay, I know you know. And I’ve definitely talked about it a bit before in a post all about discouragement as a writer. But let’s forget all that for a minute and talk again.

Last year, I called it quits on querying my now-on-Wattpad novel This Cursed Flame. It was a really hard decision, but ultimately, I made it for a lot of reasons. The time wasn’t right to find an agent for that book. And in the time since then, I’ve poured my energy and the time I had into my next book, Foxfire, which is finally in draft 3 and in the hands of a critique partner and beta readers. This is the next book I can’t wait to query.

But in the meantime, it feels like my writing career is stagnant. I feel like my dream is impossible. I feel like I will never accomplish my writing goals. I feel like I should give up, I feel unfulfilled in my day job, I feel like a failure. All because I’m not querying right now.

How silly is that? My first book wasn’t right for the current market, and I don’t have anything else ready, so obviously that means I’m a failure as a writer.

It is so easy to fall into these traps, especially in the early days, when the writing and publishing industry still haven’t accepted you into their ranks as a Published Author. But it’s important to keep things in perspective. Remember that you’re doing everything you can, that you haven’t given up, that you are creating something great and making it the best version of itself that you can make it.

So shove that little failure demon back in his hole. You’re not failing. I’m not failing. We’re not failing. And in the meantime, don’t let this feeling keep you from dreaming.

Your turn: Can you relate? Do you have other big writing demons on your back? Tell me about them! How do you deal with it?