Perseverance

Perseverance

I love this word. It is one of my favorite words. To me, it encapsulates my experience with writing. Never give up. Keep going. Don’t let them (whoever they are) push you down. No matter how hard something may be, keep plugging along.

I have been writing for—seriously—twenty years. There have been many pauses along the way. For example, I was invited to join a private screenwriting group when I lived in Scottsdale. It was an amazing opportunity to work with a skilled and highly-respected screenwriter. But I became engaged that year; wedding planning was more important to me at the time, so I chose not to participate. Then there was travel, kids, and life challenges. It is not always easy to write through all of those things. At least not for me.

So while I have taken pauses and side trips, I have always held onto writing in some way. I have always persevered. I have received hundreds of rejections: for essays, poems, novels, and my memoir. But what kind of example would I be to my children if I gave up in the face of hardship? Not a good one in my mind. So I continue. I write. I submit. I read the form-letter rejections. Once in awhile I receive an acceptance or positive feedback. And, occasionally, I take a pause for awhile to ground myself. I no longer take the rejection personally. But the process can be thankless. It seems as though I give more of myself to writing than I receive in return. But one thing is certain: I will continue to persevere.