I picked this question from Karen Jones’ post on the list of questions she’d like to ask writers:
If you have written your book, do you feel satisfied with it or
discouraged and disappointed?
I
know creative people who are almost always let down by their output. Blisters!
I also have heard, repeatedly, that it’s the mark of the great ones to be
unhappy with their performance, for what they aim for is many notches above the
result.
I’m
not one of those tortured souls. This makes me conclude I’m decidedly not one
of the greats. I am deeply satisfied at the end of each first draft, when the
words THE END would be added, had I been trained in the days when writers typed
“The End” at, ahmm, the end.
I’m
satisfied that I did it. That I brought it home. That I told a complete story.
It’s a kind of a high I can’t imagine getting from a drug or libation.
Depending
on the story and also the length of the journey first drafting took, this high
lasts from a few days to a few weeks.
It’s
upon tackling it again, in subsequent drafts, that the cracks begin and get
wider as I go. It’s beta readers’ feedback, pointing out inconsistencies, holes
and the most absurd typos, that doubts and disappointment take hold.
The
fixing journey is a long one, and I don’t enjoy it. But there, too, I have
mini-highs when I patch the potholes.
So,
my answer is that writing a book is a mix of joy, satisfaction, and also
discouragement and disappointment. But above all, I have enormous respect for
myself and all who embark on the creative train and stick with it to its
destination.
~THE END*~
*Not really
