What? Another silly gif post, Rae? What’s the matter with you?

Don’t you have better things to do?

Okay, I’ll be straight with you, I have a billion things I’m supposed to be doing right now. But I feel like a few people — very much including myself — can benefit from this. So . . .

You ready? Got your unicorn cup of (insert beverage here) ready? Grand.

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Let’s have some straight talk, people.

Being a writer.

That’s what we all do. That’s why we’re here. Well, lemme tell you something that most of you already know. We are freaking masochists. On the first day of Brandon Sanderson’s class, he says something to effect of “If you are thinking of being a writer and would be happy doing anything else, do that instead.”

Is it because he hates you? Or writing? (My guess is . . . probably not.)

Nope, it’s because this shiz is HARD.

Think about it.

With no warning, your brain EXPLODES with a billion ideas that you MUST TURN INTO A BOOK RIGHT THIS INSTANT.

And you slave away . . . until you feel like this.

And you’re pretty sure your non-writing friends are talking about you behind your back.

   

And you know what? They may not be wrong.

But then it’s DONE! And the whole world must know about it and love it and buy it and mass produce it! Because why wouldn’t they? It’s your MASTERPIECE!

And maybe that’s exactly what happens.

But probably not right away. Inevitably, this will happen.

REJECTION

Either way, it’s going to sting. And then, when more come, as they inevitably will, you will want to scream into the void.

And success seems to come easily to everybody but you. It’s always just outside your reach.

What follows can look very much like this.

You know what I’m talking about.

BUT! 

This is where a very important choice gets made.

What do you do next?

(Hint: This is the wrong choice.)

Why not do this instead?

 

I know, right? Seems counter-intuitive. But seriously. Look at those rejections. Look at the feedback. Take something from it. Make it mean something. Write a new book. Get ice cream.

Let’s be real. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. This is just a reminder because, when things start to suck, it can be easy to forget the obvious stuff.

So yes, we’ve chosen this absurdly hard (and amazing) profession. One of the keys to surviving it (besides having good friends who don’t let you isolate yourself) is to just . . .

Stay fiery, peeps. And channel that fire into something amazing.