What Are The Phases Of Writing Joy?

joy! (Photo credit: atomicity)

Hap­pi­ness is not some­thing ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~ The Dalai Lama

Last week I talked about fear in writ­ing, but there is some­thing else that is bet­ter, Joy.

There are many things that can cause joy for a writer.

• The first time you fin­ish a book
• Get an agent
• Get a publisher
• The first time you see your book on the shelf at a bookstore.

Each one of these has its bet­ter points.

Fin­ish­ing.

That first book is impor­tant because it tells you all your doubts about fin­ish­ing it were wrong. Every time you see it on your com­puter screen, star­ing at you, or the man­u­script writ­ten in note­books stacked to your mid-shin. Those are the moments that you should feel joy. You’ve accom­plished some­thing a lot of writ­ers don’t do, finish.

The Agent

Find­ing your agent is another step on the path to pub­li­ca­tion and find­ing your joy.

The denial let­ters stack up, but you keep send­ing it out, because you’re a writer and that’s what writ­ers do. No mat­ter how bad you feel when those slips come back there will always be one that gives you that joy, the glim­mer of hope you’re on the right track. It could be a note on the slip or some­thing else, but you will feel that joy!

Star­ing at the num­ber of things you have to do as a writer feels like you’re climb­ing a hill, but you know at the top of the hill is the end, at least the end of one path. The next path belongs on the fol­low­ing hill, and con­tin­ues on…

Each step along the path is another toward your goal.

The Pub­lisher

Find­ing the right pub­lisher is a part of the process, part of find­ing your joy as a writer. Will they like it, will they make you change things, will they destroy your book. Remem­ber they’re not try­ing to destroy your book, they’re try­ing to help you along the path. They are another hill to climb toward the top. But, remem­ber the top never truly appears. You have dif­fer­ent hills to climb with each book.

Each book will take a dif­fer­ent path than the last, but you will find the path sooner, instead of later.

Pub­li­ca­tion (See­ing the Book in a store)

This is the point where you quite pos­si­bly could be run­ning up and down the aisles of the store show­ing every­one your book. Don’t do that, you could get kicked out, unless you want the pub­lic­ity, then go right ahead.

This type of joy is the one every writer hopes for, pub­li­ca­tion. Whether you’re sit­ting in a room at night alone, or in an office cubi­cle click­ing away when your boss isn’t watch­ing, this is the joy that makes all those times worth it.

Are you find­ing your writ­ing joy? Why or why not?

Fol­low @Brian_B_Baker