When You Just Don’t Know

Writers write with a whole string of “don’t knows” ahead of them.

Don’t know how the plot’s going.

Don’t know how the story’s going to end.

Don’t know if anyone will like it.

Don’t know if anyone will read it.

Don’t know if it’s worth the effort.

Don’t know what will happen because life is also its own series of “don’t knows”.

We don’t have a formula for success. Sometimes it happens, and I applaud every person who struggled to get there. I am inspired by you. I am motivated by those stories. Your stories.

But for those of us who are still early on in our writing journey, life is a string of don’t knows. We don’t know, exactly, how to get eyes on our stories. We don’t know who to contact, what magical fairy god-person to wave a wand at. We don’t know what god of writing to sacrifice to. We don’t know how to get story to publication and we don’t know, hell if any of us do, what makes any story “good”.

At the end of the day, we write despite the uncertainty. We do it because it makes us happy or because we want to chase our dreams or because we want to tell stories that make people feel better by the end.

We write for ourselves because, despite the uncertainty, it’s worth it.

“Don’t knows” be damned.

 

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