I got a call from a writer friend; a midlister who worries from contract to contract. She has three books with an intermediate indie publisher and worries if they'll buy her next book in the series.
Did I say worries twice? You already know my friend. Miss Anxiety.
I tell her to recover that feeling she had when she wrote her first book, or the first book the publisher bought.
"I used to think writing was fun," she said.
"It still can be," I said.
"I feel like an athlete. Over the hill and off the playing field - if I don't come up with a big plot and marvelous characters."
"You have a series; you've done that."
"What if they get stale?"
What if, what if? Miss Anxiety has become a stuck disc.
I'm a writer; and I suffer an occasional bout of the doubts, but I still think writing is fun. Not every manuscript I produce is going to be a winner with readers, editors, publishers… But I know when I wrote it, it was fun.
I wish I had more encouraging words for my friend, an elixir for writing-is-fun work. I've known her for years and I think her anxiety comes through in her work, which is a plus, because she writes edgy noir fiction.
Now, for me, it's back to the playing field.
Gerrie Ferris Finger
THE END GAME
Coming in October: WAGON DOGS (Writing that hunting dog mystery was a lot of fun.)
