It's too hard. Just Keep Writing.

My son slammed the car door after swim practice. "It's too hard."

With tears in his eyes, he went on to tell me how many meters he had swam the past 90 minutes. It was a few thousand.
Yeah, that DOES sound hard.

But he did it. And he didn't lose his dinner, or sink to the bottom of the pool, or quit in the middle of practice. After three years of gaining skill and talent, I couldn't be a prouder parent.

"You did it! That's amazing!" I tried to encourage him, knowing that he's growing, and knowing that his practice needs to be tough to get better.

"But it's too hard." All he could do was pout and choke back tears and focus on the difficulty.

Poor guy was exhausted. Not to mention he was a little spoiled with his Christmas video game extravaganza the day before.

Yes, he was probably sore. Probably worn out both physically and emotionally. Having a coach bark, "Another 500!" when he could hardly breathe from the last 500 took a toll on his emotions, I would think.

But all I could do as his mother is encourage him to keep going. "You know, after you swim like that for a week or so, it can only get better. You'll get used to it."

Not the words he wanted to hear. Believe me. He whined and cried all the way home. I even asked if he wanted to quit just to test him...and to be sure I wasn't blowing off his angst (too much). He didn't want to quit.
He really does love it.
He just doesn't like the work it takes. The pain to gain, the constant laps to shave seconds.

Can you relate as a writer?

Have you ever cried, "It's too hard." After your tangled mess of a plot, your muddied critique, your contest loss...again?? Have your emotions been spent, your mental capacity drained, your heart muscle sore from caring too much?
I know that we as writers don't have the physical exhaustion like a swimmer--or maybe, we do--when we pull an all-nighter, when we get tennis elbow from our poor posture over the computer, when our joints ache at the 100,000 word pour out on the keyboard...hmmmm...

But, we really do love it. We need to remember that the practice, the stories, the writing, the re-writing, the editing, the scratching and starting over, is all worth it. Because we are getting better. We are learning more--about ourselves, about our craft, about our endurance.

If we are still writing after just one rejection, we are learning.

We are putting those thousands of meters...I mean pages...behind us, to crank out the next best thing. And it's going to get better...maybe easier in a way (I know that I can whip up a one page synopsis in a blink compared to a few years ago).

My son shaves seconds off his time on a regular basis at each meet he races in. He doesn't realize that those thousands of meters swam at practice help knock off the seconds that get him closer to a qualifying time for State.

I have written at least 300, 000 words in four years. And while I haven't qualified as a published author...yet...I know that I am closer. I see my endurance is paying off in the level to which my writing has grown. Not in a conceited way, just in a difference that must be had to inch (or mili-inch) to my goal of publication.

As a writer, if all this practice does not grow my skill...then what's the point?

And my son knows deep down that he's getting better. He wants to keep going. Because he's seen it pay off in the seconds. One day, he'll see it pay off in bigger ways. One day he'll swim what he pleases at State.

But only if he keeps going. Even when it's hard. Even when it's TOO hard. If he fights through it, he'll be a winner.

Will you keep writing? Even when it seems too hard...on your mind, on your time, on your heart?

If you are a writer, you'll keep going. It will get better. Just don't give up.

Just keep swimming...um...writing!

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written six historical novels and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com and connect at:

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