OBSESSED TO WRITE, PLAY THE DRUMS, AND MAKE YOU SMILE
The obsession to write comes deep in the sole. It tends to be a lonely gift because it requires isolation and concentration that only you can do on your own. It may come across as selfish. And often times, it is directed at you or suggested to you that it should be just a hobby or a part-time job/interest. And, therefore, the rejection, as well, you must endure on your own!
Being old school, the chances of getting published, or even having someone read your work, you basically have to sell your soul! It could not be more discouraging when you watch movies or read articles about these brilliant writers that are flat out rejected. However, you know that despite this, it will not deter you. You will look for different avenues no matter how long it takes.
You psychoanalyze yourself, try to think positively, but you know the routine:
You comply with the protocol, font: 10 Times New Roman, double spaced, manilla folder. You hand deliver your heart and sole manuscript. You reach the receptionist: she never takes her eyes off her typewriter, reaches out her hand and grabs your envelope, never missing a beat, tosses it onto a two-foot pile of envelopes which has no distinction from yours. Even though you’ve been through this multiple times, you pause, turn around, and assume the all too familiar defeatise walk of shame out the door!
On autopilot, you arrive home, grab the mail, and it never surprises you to find out “what the hell! How does it always beat me home?”: The rejection letter! So you throw it onto your own two-foot pile!
Enter the Internet! New hope! You download everything you can get your hands on! “Creator’s Vault,” “Book Surge!” Holy moly! They are now soliciting you! Solicit…OMG! You are inundated with “why you should choose their company.”
You then decide to lie dormant: You write, throw it over your shoulder, write, throw it over your shoulder…. Guests coming over, you stash the mountainous pile into a closet.
Twenty years later, present day, somebody turns you on to Medium. You are so guarded: Too good to be true, you think:
What do you mean:
I don’t have to worry that my grammar isn’t perfect, or hmm, do I eat or hire a proofreader?
I don’t have to invest all my time researching every little detail, up, down, backwards, and forwards?
No rejection?
What’s the catch?
You take that leap of faith! Lo And Behold…
