The Writing Path is Not That Lonely After All - IWSG

Most writers say that writing is a lonely path. One, where you trek a long, dusty road filled with small stones and a cloud of dust waiting to engulf you if your own writing wheels suddenly swerve, and you land in its dusty path. No other cars are there. Just you, your writing wheels, and the feeling of loneliness descending on you when you realize that you actually don’t know where to go and what you’re supposed to see. That’s when the insecurities come in.

For those who are thinking of choosing this road for the first time… well, some old-timers will be quick to tell you: “You thought you knew, don’t you? You thought you knew where to take a sharp turn and when to make a diplomatic retreat. You thought you needed to continue driving in a straight line—alone, until you reach the end of that road.” 

For a large part of all that, I agree. I agree because I started out like that. I thought I knew what to expect.

A lot of years had passed since then. And I’m still on the road, moving along on its path.

What have I learned? Well, for one, I still ponder on what I might see at the end of that road when I get there. Second, I now know that what I initially thought of as a long, lonely, dusty road does not appear to be as such all the time.

In fact, if I’d take the time to go slow and take notice, I would see that there’s another writer there, sitting on top of a large stone, hunched over a keyboard, writing a new story. And there’s also one here, leaning on the rough back of a large, old tree, and looking up at the changing colors of the sky, while plotting a novel in his head.

I wouldn’t see them if I merely go my own way and think that I’m alone. Yup, through the years, I’ve realized that the writing path is not so lonely after all… if you would only take the time to notice the little things—here and there. That’s when you’ll see that there are actually a lot of people at the side of the road, who would be more than happy to tell you what the writing life is really like. Who knows? They might even join you for the ride and cheer you on until you reach the end of the road. Perhaps, by then, some of the insecurities you’ve had would go away, and the stories you write will soon find its way to the hearts of the readers you’re hoping to reach.

This is my IWSG post. I hope you liked it.

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NOTE: I’m blogging on a monthly schedule now.

Latest news, by the way, is that I reached up to 50,274 words for one of the stories I’m currently working on right now. Yay! Another has reached 29,801 words and is on hold. I mean, “on ice”, as most writers like to call it. Hopefully, when I get back to it, I’ll be able to clearly see some of the errors I may not have seen during the heated process of getting my words down on its pages. I’ll tell you about all that soon when I think it’s ready.

Oh yeah, about the manuscripts I've submitted, I haven't received any reply yet. Those are for children so the word counts are shorter.

For now, I’m sending you the warmest virtual *HUGS*.

By the way, please visit the hosts for this month’s IWSG and the other members at this link: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/