1. When your story has a strong beginning and end but no middle:
2. When you think about the characters you've created:
3. When people ask you how the writing is going:
4. When you're revising:
5. When language drives you crazy:
Therapist: what's upsetting you? Wife: he's always using common phrases incorrectly Me: cry me a table, Linda
6. When you reread:
7. When the entire process is too overwhelming:
8. When you're researching:
9. When you haven't had time to socialize in months:
10. When you just want to be valued:
A barista spends 3 minutes making you a $5 coffee, you tip them. A writer spends a year writing a book, you complain that $4.99 is too high.
(But what book is $5 these days???)
11. When you hate yourself:
12. When you can feel yourself procrastinating but you can't physically stop:
13. When you finally buckle down and get to work:
14. When you inevitably hit a wall:
15. When you cringe at your old writing:
16. When your brain starts to eek out of your ears:
17. When people ask what your book is about:
18. When inspiration comes at the worst times:
19. When there aren't enough stimulants in the world:
20. When you decide those 30,000 words you wrote don't fit the plot:
21. And when you realize that maybe what you're writing isn't total crap after all:
