Are you in love? If so, Happy Valentine's Day. If not, Happy Valentine's Day anyway. I've been married to the love of my life for thirty years! Long enough to know that a lasting, meaningful, successful relationship is a process, not an event. Loving the ups and downs of that process is imperative if you're going to hold on during the tough times. My husband and I are in that comfortable place of a relationship where appreciating the little things we do for each other every day, accepting each other just as we are, and being at ease with silence is what makes it so real. And so deliciously sweet!
As writers, we need to have that same kind of relationship with our work. Stay at it long enough to grasp being in love with the process. And accept the fact that there will ALWAYS be ups and downs. After all, being a writer isn't as romantic as the Hallmark movies portray. You know, the poor starving artist who falls in love with the wealthy and famous author and they live happily ever after. Or better yet, the poor starving writer who owns the neighborhood vintage bookstore, meets a wealthy business man who believes in her work and puts her in touch with an agent crazy about the hopeful author's latest novel which becomes an instant New York Time's #1 title. No, no, it doesn't happen that way. Not even close! But it does happen when you're in love: In love with the hard work. In love with the fact that you never give up even when it's tough and it's not what you expected. In love with your daily efforts to improve your craft AND keep up with the fast-changing industry. In love with your own voice. Not in an arrogant way, just in an "I-believe-in-myself way", sort of way. Mostly, you must be madly--and I do mean insanely--in love with those moments you listen to the story in your heart, not just in your head. It's called passion--the elusive quality that keeps writers writing and married couples married.
