Writing is a tough business with tremendous rewards. It is one of the few professions in which a person can share something intensely personal, expose it to public criticism, and receive rejection over and over again.
There are enormous costs and challenges to writing, and yet many continue to dream about publishing a book some day because the rewards seem to outweigh the costs. In my own experience the rewards and goals can be difficult to quantify at times, and the challenges are sometimes larger and more complex than I could have imagined.
While it is wonderful to read the responses of readers who have been positively influenced by my writing, there are plenty of rejection letters and critiques that come along the way. That strikes me as the norm for most writers, and so it becomes a matter of managing the ups and downs of the writing life.
In addition, writing is a profession in which we can expect to make mistakes. There is a very real learning curve, and some will figure it out faster than others.
This week I want to speak frankly about my good and the bad experiences in the writing and publishing world. I hope that this series will provide a little guidance to those new to publishing, while also letting other writers know they’re not the only ones who have received crushing e-mails and plunged into the seeming depths of despair.
Tomorrow I’ll start with a post discussing the bad parts of writing and publishing.
Ed Cyzewski: Author // Contemplative 