No matter how much I love writing, some days I can really relate to this quote.
“The writing process for some books is the equivalent of hitting ourselves in the head with a sledgehammer over and over and over. Being a romance author is not unlike being a Navy Seal. The only easy day was yesterday.” -Suzanne Brockmann
Each part of the writing process has its own challenges and rewards. Some writers find the first draft the most enjoyable and inspiration-filled time, while others find that the revising and editing is where they love storytelling the most. For me, the latter is where the real creative breakthroughs happen. The ones that inspire me to keep on writing, where the little bits of dialogue and character interaction and setting details start to come together to make the story about something more powerful and engaging than the original draft, where everything comes alive.
Regardless of where I’m at in the creation process, filling a blank document with more than 80,000 words can be challenging, to say the least. Turning those words into an entertaining story seems impossible when I’m first staring at a blank document. Each and every time I get to the end and re-read a finished manuscript, I am still amazed that I did what I set out to do. I took the spark of an idea and turned it into characters who feel like real people to me, men who are experiencing the ups and downs of life while falling in love.
It’s such a rush to be a writer of fiction!
But yeah, the only easy day was yesterday. Because when I get to the end of a manuscript, I’m often left wondering...how the hell did I do that? And can I do it again?
All I can say to myself is that I’ll find out. I have every intention of taking the ride once more.
Get the sledgehammer out because I’m going again!
Sloan Parker has been writing and playing with fictional characters for years, but she finally found her true passion when she began telling stories about two men (or more) falling in love. Now she spends her writing life creating m/m erotic romances and romantic suspense. She loves to explore the lives of people who are growing as individuals while falling in love. Her greatest moments in life are spent with her family, her friends, and her characters. www.sloanparker.com
