What a Week It Was

A few days ago, I announced I’d lost all interest in writing. I also pulled a free short story I’d written off my blog.

My frustration wasn’t based on any one factor. Instead it was a myriad of issues. Remember those Tom and Jerry cartoons where Jerry throws dishes down at Tom? Tom valiantly tries to balance the ever-growing pile and, just when he thinks everything will be okay, Jerry tops the teetering stack with a teacup and the whole shebang crashes to the floor.

That story was the teacup.

Luckily no one in my writing groups threatened to shoot and put me out of their misery.

Should I have vented? I don’t know. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, knowing I could alienate people. After all, no one wants to listen to Whiny Wendy.

Yet maybe it helped others who felt the same way. After all, writers are still human, last I checked. We all have self-doubts, fears, and frustrations.  

The trick is to KEEP WRITING AND NEVER GIVE UP. (Yes, those are in caps for a reason.)

I reposted the story, a vampire-centric short. Another author pointed out (and rightly so) that I’d once said since I didn’t usually write about vampires, people wouldn’t like/read my work. I think her concern was did I write this story because I truly believed in it or because I thought it would bring me readers?

Rest assured, I would never write a story unless I wanted to. Like I told another writer, we have to write the stories in our hearts and not necessarily what we believe will sell.  

So it’s not that I would never write a vampire story. My first NaNoWriMo was a vampire novella set during the French Revolution. But when I do write vampires (or werewolves), I hope my stories are unique.

Anyway, a big THANK YOU to those of you who encouraged me and ordered me not to give up. Even if I didn’t respond to you individually, I read all your replies. And if there’s someone out there feeling self-doubt, remember this:  

You’re not alone. Trust me. We all go through this at one time or another.

If you’d like to read the story, it’s at http://www.pamela-turner.com/2011/04/repost-short-paranormal-story.html

For those of you who read and commented, thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. :-)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just got an idea for a werewolf tale and a drawing I need to sketch out.