Handling fire
Not so long ago, I talked about a project that is really kicking my ass. You’ll be interested to know I’m still working on it, despite the emotional toll it’s taking.
I know it’s working because one of my beta-readers said reading it put an anxious knot in his stomach. While I hate tormenting him, I also don’t want to lose him, so my journey forward is a little lonelier if he taps out. But these things happen. Not every book is for everybody.
On the plus side, I’m crying less while working. I’ve moved myself here and there over the years, but I’ve never full-on sobbed when writing something. Unfortunately, I can’t beg off like my beta reader might. This is my novel, and I have to see it through, no matter what the cost, because some stories are worth it.
You may ask why I say that. Why work on something that chips away at your psyche day by day? All I can tell you is that sometimes a story comes along that must be written. It becomes essential to you in a way that other material in your bibliography doesn’t. I have to write this and, when I’m done, I have to share it with the world.
Sure, maybe it won’t resonate. Perhaps it’ll flop. It wouldn’t be the first time something I wrote landed with a thud. But that doesn’t matter when the fire is there. A fire that can burn you, but can’t be relinquished.