I heard an interesting story today in church that I wanted to share:
A Cherokee Legend
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
I think it's something most people feel at times, I know I do at times, especially working on revisions right now. I'm not to the point of having anything to start querying with, but in a way I'm looking forward to that process as it'll mean I've gotten through this stuck in revision stage.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your querying, and your writing in general.
I'm sorry you get bummed out hun -hugs- I think it is something that all people-- but most especially writers-- feel all the time. I'm glad you're looking for positive things though.
ReplyDeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I'm loving your story so far =)
We all go through it. If we didn't it wouldn't mean as much when we're successful. And I don't measure success in terms of publishing, or requests or rejections. If your satisfied with something, no matter what anyone else thinks, you should feel a measure of success. So if revising gets you down, keep chopping away until you make it better. Then, success! Or, work on something new. That's the beauty of all of us wannabes. We aren't under any deadlines except our own. Feel free to walk away if you need to.
ReplyDeleteWell, that was all pretty sappy. I need to re-read about my pantless neighbors.
Great story Wendy - I've heard it in church too or cub scouts maybe. I suffer from doubt too. I often wonder is it worth putting all this time into. I'm no where near where you are though. Maybe I would feel even more discouragement if I kept getting rejected. I think you have talent Wendy. I believe it will happen for you one day, but it never will if you give up.
ReplyDeleteOh and I love the drawing of the dragon and the princess on your previous post. So funny.
Wendy, that was an awesome story thank you for posting it. We all do have that inner struggle and lately mine seems to be more often than not but I have to feed the right wolf.
ReplyDeleteMatt said it best, "we aren't under any deadlines except our own". We "unpublished" are our own bosses if you think about it.
Keep up the good work!
Love the pic too! Glad to see your smiling face!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great story with the two wolves. Thanks for sharing it, and I'm sorry you've been feeling discouraged. Your good wolf will win in the end, even if I have to give you steroids to feed it.
ReplyDeleteHang in there...remember, it's a constant battle. I would think that feeling discouraged after rejection is a normal reaction that anyone would have. It's not what you feel...it's how you react to how you feel that defines which of your wolves has the upper hand at the moment!!
ReplyDeleteP.S How was I NOT following your blog before now? Situation rectified!
Inspiring story. I think every unpublished/underpublished writer goes through this on a fairly regular basis. I sure do.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I've been feeding the wrong wolf for a while now. I'd given up querying on my last two novels and almost gave up fiction altogether until I had some inspiring things happen this weekend. If you want some more inspiration (of the humorous sort) check out my guest post on Nathan Bransford's blog. It "explains" why we keep writing in the face of all this rejection.
I'm sorry you're struggling with the rejections. I know how that feels. I gave up that grind and tried to give up writing for a while. Now I'm considering full self-publishing. I don't expect to become famous with it. But at least it's an outlet and I get to control the product. Since you've got some technical know-how, it's a thought.
ReplyDeleteI've given you an award over at my blog. Don't worry about doing the whole award thing if you don't have time. Just consider it a tribute to your blog.