Aspiring Writer – The Dreaded Fog

Really? I’m not done yet? Like any other writer, we want our words to sing right out of the gate. Well, at least after a few revisons. But what happens when we’ve done all we can, and it’s still not enough to get published?

The Dreaded Fog

But, Lord … I thought it was finished!

I recalled the moment I wrote the final word of my novel and breathed such a sigh of satisfaction! Heroine and hero had lived through dreadful danger and discovered true love. Better yet, they surprised me with the unique way they concluded their story. 

Yet all the rewrites I’d labored on, perfecting the story, were not enough? My novel required yet more work?

Well, I won’t do it. I don’t want to do it. I … sputtered to a stop.

To be honest, I simply had no idea what to do next. Following the advice of mountains of books, articles and classes, I’d already put to use everything I learned about writing novels. What more was there?

Confused, I wandered in a fog for two months, doing my best to ignore that troublesome novel. Besides, I had plenty to keep me busy–including my (yea!) new novel.

Yet my first novel, the one that would one day become Her Deadly Inheritance, refused to let go. It waited in silence until I could stand it no more.

Okay, I did want to do whatever it took to bring it to a publishable state, but … was I even capable?

I closed my eyes and sank back in my office chair. Slowly breathing in and out, I sought the answer to my dilemma from the one Source I knew had the solution.

Lord, what will it take? What must I do? Please show me the way through this unfamiliar territory, this terribly dark place.

Words I’d read earlier that morning came back to me.

“I will answer them before they even call on me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers” ~Isaiah 65: 24 (The Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers).

I perked up, suddenly recalling I had ordered a book about revision and self-editing. Was this God’s answer?

Of one thing I was sure. Before I ever called out to God, he saw my need and went  ahead to answer my prayer. Without a doubt, he would also show me the way out of this awful writer’s fog. He would enable me to take my novel to the publishable level. If only I didn’t quit.

***

Dear Reader, many challenges test a writer’s resolve. Are you In a fog? Call out to God, and you’ll find his answer already on its way.

~ Beth

Copyright 2009 Beth Ann Ziarnik09 Beth Ann Ziarnik