Sometimes, Writing Sucks

Write anyways.

Photo by brut carniollus on Unsplash

Sometimes, it seems like people want smoke blown up their ass.

I’m a cynic at heart, so I don’t see the value of lying to yourself — or trying to “reframe your thoughts” or “shift your focus” or whatever you want to call it.

When things are good, they’re good; when they’re terrible, they’re terrible, they’re terrible. And, you can find your entire life trying to look for the silver lining in a shitty situation, or you can just resign yourself to the shit.

And there’s a lot of shit in writing.

First of all, the act of writing itself isn’t a picnic. Not that it’s a hard day down in the sulfur mines, but it’s not exactly a beach chair and a martini down in Cabo. Writing is isolating and lonely.

Sure, you might see writing conferences, book signings, book tours and the like and think that there is no shortage of friends, love, and admiration. And maybe that’s true, if you make it to the top.

Like, the top of the top. The 1% of writers.

But, most likely, you’ll be working in isolation and not earning a living wage. Maybe you’ll have a day job that scratches your social itch, but if you’re someone who’s lived in the poverty-wage sector their entire life, it’ll probably be a job that makes you hate the vast…