I have been a writer in my heart for over 20+ years. And with my 38th birthday just passing, makes it almost 24 years. But in the society we live in today, I wonder if being a Writer is good enough. There are Ebooks everywhere you look. Blogs and Articles all over the Internet. We are suppose to be in a time where being a published Author as easy as ever before. And I believe it is. But being a great well known Author may not be as easy as it is to be published.
I’m not going to deny that as a Children’s Book Writer, I am afraid that this will be me. But I shouldn’t an neither should you. Even J.K. Rowling’s didn’t know Harry Potter would blow up as big as it did. So if we fear we cannot succeed, the question I ask myself everyday, I confess. Will we as future Authors become known? Well you can worry all you want as long as you don’t stop trying, don’t stop Writing. Because like many, many, Authors before us they too had the same fear. Don’t you think Dr. Seuss, himself, thought, will people really like all my discombobulated words and stories? Well did they? I still love reading him and I’m 33 years old.
When you start to worry and doubt yourself that is ok, because as a true writer, we doubt ourselves everyday. We worry that we are not writing good enough. That people will not like our stories. That someone is always better. Well someone will always be better if we don’t Do. If we don’t Write. If we don’t Share.
What we are feeling is not something new. It is not something every other writer has not felt some time in their life and career. I would be worried if I didn’t feel that way. I would be worried if I was so self-assured that my writings are the best out there. That it is so good, everyone will want my book, everyone will love my words. If you as a writer are not worried about your words, your works. Are you truly thinking of your audience. If you are so sure of yourself, are you really doing the best you can.
When I sit down to write. I think of the colors my book will have. I think of the beginning of the story, where the child will get engaged to my story. How the magic will unfold on each page. How each character will come to life and take my reader on a quest, a journey, an adventure. I want to amaze them with the words they read. And if I cannot do that, then I will click the delete button and start again. Because the written word can take you on amazing journeys with just the turn of the page.
To some children that may be all they have. To them that story, that book, could mean a great escape, to a place that they may never get to go.
This is why my fears do not outweigh my love for writing, and my desire to be an Author. Because I have a story to tell. Whether it be the right one for you, who knows. But to someone, even if it only one person, it’s for someone. That is why I love to write. Why I choose a life that some say is not really worth what it was years ago. Because being a published Author in a world where everyone can be an Author good or bad. I don’t worry if I am going to be well-known. Now of course, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to be a great well-known Children’s Author, but just being known by one or maybe a small few, that to me is good enough. To me, that is why I do this. To me that is being Well-Known.
