In the Combat Zone of Discouragement

I think that as writers, (or more technically, wanna-be-PUBLISHED-writers), most of us have felt discouragement at one point or another when it came to our writing.

We may have gotten yet another rejection letter in the mail. Or simply not heard back at all. Or, we may have had so many different critiques on a piece of our writing that we got to the point that we didn't know what to change, what to keep, or whether it would be better to just scrap the whole damn thing.

We've re-written our query so many times that we might be to the point where we aren't even sure what book we are talking about. We are afraid we are losing that fire we had the first time we wrote it (even though that first one absolutely and positively sucked.)


Shells of  "I can't hear voice strong enough!" come zooming by our chest, while bombs of  "It just didn't do it for me. I'd just re-write that entire piece." come falling down on top of us as we cower holding our hands over our head, hoping we don't get flattened. We keep peeking for a foxhole..for cover, for safety. Praying that someone, ANYONE, will fly in with a super-sonic jet marked "Agent" and deliver us from this combat zone.

Instead, the reality is...sometimes we need to endure that combat zone to toughen up. To get stronger. To make our writing stronger.  You know, like the Army tagline...to "Be all the you can be."

So while I admit to still peering around constantly for the Agent F15, I plan to suck it up and learn while I'm down here in the trenches. Because I am definitely learning. Even when I fall on my ass from a round I didn't see coming. And so are you.