Over the last few weeks, almost every conversation with friends and family has started with variations of this one phrase, “Man, you’re really getting out there with your books!”
I find a lot of humor in this comment because the truth is. I’m not. At least, I don’t see it that way. Sure, I’ve been keeping people updated on the latest news and such and I sound like I’m really successful. But the truth of the matter is that over the past month I have faced trial after trial. Between marketing strategies falling apart, events not going as planned, and book sales not being where they should be, I find some days are really hard to keep going. I often find myself wondering, is this really the path I should be following? Should I just write as a hobby? Some days I honestly find these trials are debilitating and my motivation for writing is just non-existent.
With my confession out of the way, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. For example, why am I only posting positive things? Why not express my downfalls and struggles? Am I just telling the good parts of my writing career to sound like I’m successful?
Simple answer. No. By no means am I trying to deceive anyone. As writers, we are almost all in the same boat. We are screaming for our voices to be heard because we truly believe our work is worth everyone’s time. I am part of many online writing groups and have noticed that many writers use these groups to vent about their struggles. Yes, it’s nice to get advice from seasoned authors about the best way to resolve issues, but the more posts I read, the more I saw people wanting to give up on their work.
That’s why you’ll never see me complain about my struggles. There’s enough negativity in the world than for me to add more to the mix about my own problems. I want to encourage people, whether it be other writers, or people trying to pursue their dreams to find the positivity in every situation they face. Sometimes the problems we face are so bad that it does take a while to find that ‘silver lining’, but by focusing on the things that went right, it changes our minds to focus on what’s good. And sometimes when we see the positivity, it can actually help us see how we can still make a situation work. Truly, the power of positivity is the closest thing I can imagine to magic.