Happy Thanksgiving!

When you’re a writer struggling to get your name and work out there, it is easy to get bogged down in the bad stuff. The critiques. The rejections. The steps backward. The other day I had a story up for critique in class, and I knew it was going to be a bad critique because even I didn’t like the story. The points everyone brought up were valid–it was confusing, the characters were abrasive, the ending didn’t make that much sense–but still, after that class, it took me nearly an entire afternoon and a big bar of chocolate to get out of the feeling that my writing is terrible.

But I did get out of it. After that chocolate and a nap and a little bit of television to take my mind off things, I remembered that I love to write and I have a lot of proof that people like my writing (starting with my sister, who always gobbles up my work, and also including the fact that I got into a writing program) and even if my writing isn’t that great now, I know that if I keep writing and keep paying attention to what people are telling me, I will learn to get better.

So this week, I think it’s worth it to push aside all the negative thoughts, hide all the rejection letters, and just think about what we’re grateful for in our writing life. I’m grateful for the joy writing brings me. I’m grateful for the support my family and friends give me. I’m grateful for the amazing opportunities I’ve had because of my passion for writing. I’m grateful to have fallen in love with reading so I can have fallen in love with so many books! I’m grateful for the little successes that shine harder than any rejection I’ve gotten.

What are you grateful for?

PS Check out the AUTHORNOMICS interview with Dan Poynter this week–this man literally built his own publishing house around his first self-published book way back before self-publishing was cool. And now he’s reaping the rewards.