Keep on believing in yourself

Over my writing career I've attended hundreds of talks and workshops about writing.  The ones that infuriate me most are by some author who got published twenty years ago talking about how they got published.  "It was much easier in my day'" they all say.  As if I wanted to know that!  It's difficult enough hanging onto the dream of  mainstream publication without people telling us it's got harder in recent years.

Last night was one of those nights when I woke at 3 a.m. and my brain was occupied with all the annoyances and irritations that come to mind in the dark hours.  I'd been reading about workshops for science fiction writers, and it brought back memories of being rejected for the Clarion workshop years ago.  The feeling wasn't helped by the information about how many of the workshop's graduates had gone on to achieve good publication.  

I got into a negative spiral of 'why do I bother?'  Then the biggest curse of the writer struck.  I began to wonder if I was deluding myself that I could write.  This is the moment when your really need a re-injection of self belief.

A good way to do this is to collect compliments and good reviews of your writing.  Mine range from a best-selling author saying "you're a bloody good writer" the first time she heard my work to a mainstream children's publisher saying they loved my work and talking with me about it for three months.

At the time I took that rejection very hard, but I've since learned through talking to other writers that this was high praise, a near-miss I ought to cherish. But near misses don't get us published, and at some time we have to pick ourselves up, lick our wounds, and go on out there and wow them again.