I’ve read a post about this on the forums and it got me thinking. Being a solitary endeavor, the emotions we feel while at the computer run the gambit from euphoria to deep depression. I tend to feel more euphoric, but there are times when I feel like throwing the computer through the window because I can’t seem to write something that I think is worth a crap. It is times like this that we reach the level of being a professional writer.

Why is that, you say? Well, a professional keeps going forwards, even if they hate what they’re doing, until the job’s completed. That’s what we have to do. I remember Steven King saying:

“Running a close second [as a writing lesson] was the realization that stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard, either emotionally or imaginatively, is a bad idea. Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it, and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing is to shovel shit from a sitting position.”

This is when you move from amateur writer to professional. That point where you feel like it’s pure shit that you’re putting on the screen but force yourself to continue. Now, how will you feel at this time? Frustrated, irritated and wondering if you’re worth a damn. And every last feeling is wrong. You see, I’m guilty of it too. I’m so afraid to send a manuscript off because I can never feel like it’s “right.”

That’s where another quote from King comes into play:

“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”

So, step off the ledge into the great beyond and don’t let your emotions hold you back.