The Doubts of an Author

 I Have Doubts

Image credit: Lukas Biery from Pixabay

Yes, I have doubts as to the quality of my writing. Is it any good or am I just fooling myself?

Every morning, early, —always about 5 a. m.—I rise from bed and begin writing. I’m always excited to begin the day writing, my heart pumping, and my creative juices flowing. On good days, I may write, off-and-on, for four or five hours. If it goes well, I’m elated; if it goes badly, I’m miserable. If I only hammered out two or three lines, I feel that I have wasted my whole day—for nothing! I pout and I feel anger for the rest of the day, and I wonder whatever made me ever believe that I could ever do a thing like writing a book, to begin with. Stupid! And for an Indie writer, this is even worse—you don’t have a publisher!

Well, and even having a publisher isn’t always a sure deal of the quality of one’s writing.

I have had many short stories and six novels published. My first novel was published by a man who owned a small publishing company. He kept telling me that my manuscript was one of the best novels that he had ever read. The contract that I signed with him was a 60/40 contract, with a 30% overhead charge—meaning that before the 60/40 kicked in, 30% was taken off first: I made little money.

So, I don’t know. Yeah, I have doubts. Even the King says—that’s Stephen King— “Don’t go into writing lightly. There are too many disappointments.”

Yet, when all is said and done, there are the occasional emails that I receive from people—total strangers! —thanking me for my writing putting a smile on their faces.

Yes, I have doubts, but receiving one of those joyful emails makes it all worth it.

Written by:

Alan Zacher

AMAZON

After many years of being a "struggling" actor in LA, I turned to writing. I have had several novels published: "I'm No P. I."; "A Ghoulish Good Time"; "The 13th Hour"; "Being a P. I.--Again". I have had MS for serval years now; I know physical and mental pain; so I need much laughter to endure it. Hopefully, my novels do just that--give much laughter.

Creativity - Your Way

Creativity - Your Way

There's the old saying that everyone has a book in them, waiting to be written. While I'm not sure that's true - not everyone wants to be a writer, after all - I think everyone has the ability to be creative. I would even go so far as to say creativity is part of who we are as human beings.

Creativity comes in many forms. Some of us are sculptors, painters, writers, poets, or song writers. There's scrapbooking, photography, crafting, woodworking ... the list goes on and on. Being creative is a way to let your mind run free. It's both relaxing and invigorating. And, even if you don't see yourself in any of the aforementioned creative categories I listed, I'm willing to bet you're still a creative person. Some people use creativty in their jobs - landscapers, architects, engineers, for example. And, then there's some common hobbies such as gardening, sewing, and knitting that require creativity.

If you've always wanted to try your hand at writing, painting, or some other artistic pursuit, what's stopping you? Don't worry about whether or not you'll be any good at it. The whole point of trying something new is to see if you like it. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters, Don't let anyone discourage you from being creative or expressing yourself.

Be creative - YOUR WAY!

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To read more of Tricia Drammeh's post, please visit her blog: https://authortriciadrammeh.wordpress.com/