I have recently began joining in different on-line writing groups and I have noticed a theme of dissatisfaction running through many of them. There is a sense of frenetic urgency about publishing, as if the stamp of approval from these other people was the only way of being satisfied.
Well, I...I was just about to go off on that one, but its true; we all want to be published. Dang!
So what if it never happens? No fists full of money, no public approval, no TV interviews. Would it still be worthwhile?
For me, writing is fuzzy slippers, jammies and hot cocoa. I'm happy and content. Trying to get published is like wearing your fuzzy slippers and pj's to the front door to get the paper; you open the door and spy your news-wrapped comics lying just beyond reach. You take a step outside and hear the ominious little click as the door closes behind you. You raise your head from the ground, clutching all your hopes in hand, to find yourself standing in front of yard full of well-dressed and intelligent people who can tell, with just one glance, you are not "their sort." Sorry, your books does not fit our needs at this time. Good luck placing it anywhere else.
Sigh.
Does it have to be that way?
Writing is satisfaction that I have never received in any other manner. I've learned things about people that I don't think I would have ever known without spending the time I have writing about it. So, Cheers! Let's celebrate ourselves and our writing. It's wonderful to the only person in the world you have to account to: Yourself.
And there's always another revision.