watercolorsintherain asked: Hi, Roxane. I've found myself at a literary roadblock and I'm looking for a way through (or a detour, at least). I've found myself without enough motivation to sit down and work on my stories, particularly the edits. And, many times, once I get down to it, a voice emerges, telling me that the work is for nothing, that I've been rejected many times before and not published once, that I'm wasting my time on inventing the imaginary, contributing nothing but false scenarios. What do you suggest?
Any voice that tells you your work is for nothing needs to be punched in the face. Self-deprecation and self doubt in a writer are as unhelpful as delusional confidence.
If you find yourself without enough motivation to put in the work, maybe you’re just not ready to work on whatever you’re working on.
Writing is not supposed to be painful. Writers have perpetuated a bizarre mythology about the angst of writing for far too long. Writing should be fun! What do you need to do to make writing fun? What do you need to do to want, to have a true desire to get into your stories, and write and revise and put in that work? Those are the real questions here.
I’m not saying be all Pollyanna about things because, ugh, no. But you have to want it and you have to believe you have something worth saying and no one can really give that to you.
As for contributing false scenarios, books, and fiction in particular, have saved my life, provided comfort and solace, and given me hope more times than I can count. Stories aren’t false scenarios. They are everything that is great about the power of imagination and creative writing. Think of all the fictional scenarios predating us. They are far from nothing and neither is your writing.
