I recently read a great post by a fellow writer, Emmie Mears. It summed up a lot of the frustration I have been feeling when I look at the publishing world lately. That post, “Book on Shelf” and the Evaporating Dream, begins:

I had planned to write about villains today.

Instead, I found myself moved to tears by a blog post I read and the comments that followed, and I sat feeling helpless for a moment, blinking back tears, rifling through my memories and wrestling with the itch in my fingers. Because I don’t really want to write this post right now. In fact, it’s the last post I want to write. It’s the one argument I have avoided with religious zeal, trying to stay on the sidelines and keep my blinders on. Trying to keep my eyes on my goal.

Book on shelf.

That’s my goal.

The post brought me to tears, because I understood it so well and because, frankly, it made me feel much less alone in my worries.

She goes on to talk about the many changes occurring in the publishing industry today, things that sometimes make me want to put away my writing, lock the drawer, and throw away the key. I won’t go into all the details because I think she covers them well and I think you should visit her blog. J

I don’t put my writing away, because I can’t. I am a writer. It is a part of me I can’t turn away from and I love it.

I think that is the key really. The dream of making a living as an author or of seeing your book in print, on a shelf, a book you can hold in your hands and flip through the pages of, that dream might become irrelevant any day. It might not.

But then an earthquake like the one that hit Japan could change my life tomorrow. A car accident could end it. A comet could hit the earth and change everything. I don’t stop chasing my dream because of these things. I guess my point is that cannot control the publishing industry any more than I can a natural disaster.

I suppose there is one way to look at it. If you are doing what you love, then do it. Maybe it won’t work out the way you dreamed, but sometimes life really is about the journey.

Keep chasing your dreams.

Happy writing!