Keep on Keepin’ on

I just read a really good piece from fracturefaithblog.com about a shameful secret. I won’t rehash what he said, but it did make me stop and think about something we all need to do as writers, and that’s just to keep going.

The writing game is a little like the guy who dropped down on his knees, and each and every day prayed that he’d win the Lottery. Years went by and he never won a dime. So one day in frustration and disgust, he asked God why that prayer had gone unanswered. God had a simple response. “You want to win the Lottery? Maybe you should buy a Lottery ticket first.”

The little story has a lot of truth in it. Unless you’re out there trying, it will never happen. You can write all day long, but until you put your baby out there for the world to see, it’s just so many electrons floating around in a computer or ink scratches on a page.

So put it out there. Some writers are terrified people won’t like it, or worse, ignore it.  That’s okay. Don’t stop, and don’t get discouraged, because if you do, you’ll never be there when lightning strikes and it goes your way.

And if the lightning never does strike, at least you won’t have to utter those most horrible words in any language, “If only I had tried.”