It’s always inspiring to find another writer who approaches the craft in a similar way that you do. Today I stumbled onto this post by Science Fiction author Jamie Todd Rubin about how he’s on an unbroken daily writing streak for over 373 days (updated to 390).

Writing tends to be a burden more than a blessing. Torture yourself with your craft, sitting in your office, typing away at your computer, day after day – and what is the result? Obscurity.

You try to perfect by reading books on how to write better. Twenty-one Steps to the Perfect Novel. Fiction Writing for Blockheads. The list goes on and you’ve paid a small fortune to improve yourself. What is the return on your investment? Obscurity.

But, this is the life of a writer, is it not? There would be nothing to write if we were all blessed with the accolades of fame and fortune. When we make money and sell a book, it is always bittersweet. Can we continue to sell? How do we get that break, get our story movie rights sold, become a world renown author?

It’s a mystery. I certainly don’t know. Those who have done so, I don’t think they really even know. Luck, probably. But it really doesn’t matter, does it? A dozen or so time in the recent past I’ve quit writing altogether, certain it was not the vocation for me. Yet, here I am. Back at it again. Why?

I guess it’s just in the blood. I’m somehow intrinsically tethered to my characters, to my stories. I guess I’m in it for the long-haul, whether I become “a success” or not. I may never be able to quit my day job and live off of my writing (though I have a better shot at it than most – since I don’t need much). I may never see my name on the big screen.

But I do have my stories. I do have my characters. And, with them, I have fallen in love.

649 Words Edited on In The Meadow
332 Written on Our Daughter