My Advice: Quit

Until you can make a living writing, it is an avocation. It is something you dedicate yourself to, heap lots of time doing, but see little return.

Now, if your avocation is stamp collecting or macramé or origami, you can devote yourself happily to it, create your little corner of the world, keep going until you die. No one will ask “did you ever get that piece of macramé published?” Or “That origami swan you made, did it ever go viral?”

Writing is a peculiar avocation. Unlike other creative arts–say, singing or sculpture–you are not considered a “success” unless you publish. Unless you attract thousands of people to your blog (ahem), unless your stories are made into Netflix.

For a person like me, who has been writing with limited success for fifty years, it can get depressing. You read a terrible book in your genre (and in mystery there are a dozen awful books for every good one) and you ask yourself, how did this person get published when I am still struggling? I’m a much better writer than this person. My stories are more interesting, my characters more believable, my dialogue crisper and funnier. So why doesn’t a publisher take the same chance on me that they did on this awful book?

There is no answer. Some guys have all the luck, as Rod the Mod Stewart once sang.

Last night I was on Facebook. One of the pages I subscribe to is a fiction writer’s support group. Yes, like alcoholics and Brittney Spears fans, writers need support from their fellow sufferers.

One poster said “I can’t seem to write. I don’t have writer’s block, I just don’t seem to have the motivation to write. Can you guys motivate me?”

One brave soul answered: “If you don’t have the motivation, then you probably don’t really want to write. So don’t.”

Another responded “Not with negative people like you he won’t.”

But…well, you know, I’m in with the first guy. If you don’t want to write, no one will force you. If you don’t have the motivation, maybe it’s because you’re thinking you’ll get rich and famous and when the first story you send out gets rejected, there go your peach-colored dreams.

There are far too many people in the world who think they can write. They come up with some awful stuff and send it to the same places I do. The flood of submissions means that my submission will get lost with all the others.

So my advice for those of you who feel they don’t have the motivation to write is, don’t. Don’t stress it. Just give up. There are lots of other, more rewarding things to focus on. The world really doesn’t need another writer, another novel, another short story. One writes and submits not to save the world so much as to save their own souls. When a story is accepted, it validates your existence. But there are other ways to validate yourself which are much more rewarding.

I know this sounds selfish. You should quit so I have a better chance. But it’s like trying out for the baseball team in high school. I tried out and was terrible. Terrible. I didn’t make the squad and I shouldn’t have. It didn’t hurt because I knew I had no talent for baseball. Let the guys who can hit and catch and throw play for the school.

Same with writing. If it doesn’t compel you on its own, no earthly force or false encouragement is going to help.

If you don’t feel a hole in your life when you’re not writing, maybe you should look into macramé.