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The Spiritual Side of Writing
by Joyce Lavene

"Frustration"

Frustration is something everyone deals with in life. Our jobs are difficult or we don’t make enough money. Our kids get in trouble or our husbands/wives don’t understand us.

As writers, frustration can be overwhelming. Everyday we face a blank screen or page of paper. We scrape together bits and pieces of time. We pour out our hearts and souls filling page after page. We allow strangers to see a part of ourselves that we may never have exposed before. We cherish and polish until what we have is as perfect as we can make it.

Then we send it out.

We all know what happens after that. If we’re lucky, we get a positive response, either a helpful rejection or a solid acceptance. On a bad day, we get a soulless form letter or a mean spirited denial. The wait for either can be 6 months to 2 years.

How do we keep going? How do we keep creating while the kids are crying and we need just five more minutes to finish the end of this book?

What do other writers have to say about frustration?

Angela Knight, author of Kissing the Hunter: “I'm a newspaper reporter and a romance writer.  The good news is: I manage to make a living.  The bad news is, after spending eight hours or more a day writing newspaper stories, it's really tough to find time for writing fiction. By the time I get home at the end of the day, I'm wiped.  I finally discovered I could write if I got up early in the morning, but that gives me at best two hours of fiction writing a day.  I'm not making the progress on my novel that I would like, however, so I'm trying to come up with another strategy.  And, of course, I worry that I don't spend enough time with my family.”

Penelope Marzec, author of Sea of Hope: “Inspiration hasn't been a problem for me.  Frustration has.  There are simply times when there is no time to write.  All the advice that claims a writer must sit down everyday and write doesn't take into account the fact that most of us have REAL jobs, along with parents, children, and spouses who all demand a large chunk of our time. Carving out writing time is tough, but not impossible.  Some of my best writing has been done while I've been sitting in a waiting room.  My laptop is a legal pad. The story, like the dust in my house, sometimes just has to wait.  But in the lulls when I can't write, my mind is still mulling over the details of my plot so that when I do have time to sit down in front of the computer, I'm more excited about what happens next.”

A.C. Ellis, author of Worldmaker: “After months of writing and re-writing on a novel project, I finally decided to take a break. The Colorado Center for the Book was putting on their annual Festival of the Book over the weekend. I volunteered four hours a day for the two days of the Festival at the author registration desk, and spoke on a panel titled "What You Need to Write Good Science Fiction." The weekend revitalized me for my writing, and I made a number of exciting contacts.”

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This is the Place: “I returned to writing at an age when most people are considering retirement.  So this is a letter of inspiration.  I find no difficulties in writing (well, maybe the pay could be better but everyone in every field thinks that.)  I am just so glad to be back to doing what I love.  I  carry my notebook everywhere.  I go to the Huntington Gardens...and write.  I  go to the Getty Museum..and write.  I go to Palm Springs (gloriously alone!) ...and write.  You get the idea.  Since I started writing, since This is the Place was published, I have a whole new life. It is the life I dreamed  of in my youth.  I would urge young writers never to forsake it and the old ones to take it up again--with a vengeance.  I don't feel I am entering "declining years" but ascending ones.  It's the writing that does it.”

Genie Davis, author of Dreamtown: “I have one book published, and two currently being shopped by a new  book agent. Writing is my drug of choice, and if I can't mainline a few thousand  words a day at least, I'm seriously unhappy. The best thing about writing is the miracle of taking inchoate thoughts and shaping them into people,  places and plots that plug into the equally inchoate thoughts of perfect  strangers.”

Lorie Ham, author of Murder in Four Part Harmony: “I have been writing most of my life and publishing here and there since the age of 13.  I started out with poems and moved to short stories and  then learned how to write articles when I got a shot at a job at a local newspaper in my 20's.  When I was in my early thirties I finally managed to get my first two mystery novels published and it was quite a thrill,  but not at all what I expected.  I never realized how much time a writer needs to spend promoting their books once they are published especially if they are published by a small press.  It is now a bigger battle than ever to  find time to write my next novel. But I believe the writing life is always a balancing act and if you want it badly enough you'll find a way.  I write whenever I have a moment here and there-before work, at lunch and my favorite time is at night when the house is quiet.  I have also found creative ways to promote my books and especially enjoy when I can use my non-fiction writing as a tool to promote my novels--giving me a chance  to promote and write at the same time.”

Celia Ann Leaman, author of Mary’s Child: “I think you have to be a little bit insane, have lots of hope, stamina and persistence to be a writer. It isn't an easy journey. I'd say though, if you've been given the gift to be able to write, then it would be an insult to the Giver not to use it, no matter how much, at times, the angst it causes your soul. In a way you have been chosen to use your imagination, and to impart your perceptions and interpretation of the world to bring joy and entertainment to others. So, it follows that a great honor has been bestowed on you to have others read your work. That thought is both humbling and inspiring, and it keeps me going when the going gets tough.”

So hang in there! We’re all in the same boat! But with perseverance and creative ideas to get past rejection and frustration, you can keep going. Don’t let frustration stop you from reaching your dreams!

SHARE YOUR IDEAS WITH ME ON THIS AND UPCOMING COLUMNS! joyce@joyceandjimlavene.com

My thanks to these writers for sharing their inspirations and frustrations:

Penelope Marzec
http://www.geocities.com/pennyspen

A.C. Ellis
http://www.ebooksrock.net/pages/aellis.html

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
http://www.tlt.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm

Lorie Ham
http://www.LorieHam.com

Celia Ann Leaman
http://www.devonshirebabe.com

Angela Knight
The FOREVER KISS to be published by Red Sage in 2003.

Genie Davis
http://www.fictionworks.com/edreamtown.htm



Joyce Lavene writes a little bit of everything with her husband/partner, Jim. They live in North Carolina with their three grown children and two grandchildren. She welcomes visitors to her websites:

http://www.joyceandjimlavene.com
http://www.sharynhowardmysteries.com