My Running Shoes

At church yesterday, the pastor talked about going that extra mile for God. The first mile is the easy one--but the second one is the one that takes commitment and perseverance.

I can't help but think how his thoughts relate to writing. I write a story and submit. Then I submit it again and again and sometimes I finally toss it away in frustration.

Many of us (me included) don't always want to do the edits a piece requires to get published. We don't want to read the articles or writers magazines or attend a writers group to learn the craft. We wrote the story and that should be enough.

And sometimes, we give up totally and convince ourselves writing isn't our gift.

Commitment and perseverance.

The writer's road requires plenty of both. I recently discovered through personal experience that the art of sending out queries isn't as easy as I assumed it would be. An agent didn't scoop me up one day later,(nor two months later!) nor did a publisher when I sent out a synopsis of what I thought would be the perfect fit for their needs.

The road to writing means going that extra mile to make your work the best you can make it--even if it means running into some stumbling blocks along the way.

Now today I'm putting on my best sneakers and continuing the race. Will you join me?