Writing Life

Let us, then, be up and doing
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

These four lines speak to me not just for the writing life, but for life in general.

But let's discuss this in terms of writing: It's not enough to dream of books with our name on the spine. We must write, write, write. Then polish our work and send it out into the world, which may or may not accept it. Only the writing is in our control. So we work at it, and a few years later we see that we are better.

Waiting can be the hardest part but goodness gracious, when that acceptance arrives, it's sweet.

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