Patricia Stoltey

Author

Writing on a Merry-Go-Round

By:

Doesn’t it seem like writers do the same things over and over?

Write
Tear up pages or delete chapters
Write
Submit for critique
Rewrite (many times)
Submit to first reader
Rewrite
Self-edit (finally)
Submit
File rejections
Repeat above steps as many times as it takes
Get sale if we’re lucky
More edits
Maybe more edits
Promote

Sometimes I think, “Stop this carousel, I want to get off.”

But I don’t.

San Francisco, 2010

I climb off the carousel for a few minutes..or months, maybe a bit dizzy from the experience, and stagger around for a while. But then I climb right back on for another ride…I mean write…as soon as the music starts.

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Comments

  1. Love the image, but what happens when the carousel is spinning wildly and you must jump off to attend a wedding? My beloved family members don’t always schedule their lives around my ride. I know. I know. More material for when I jump back on. Liz

  3. Dean, I have developed many interests and am easily distracted, so I’ll always be climbing on and jumping off. It’s not the way to become a prolific writer, but I’m still having fun.

  4. You buy your ticket, you go for the ride. It’s less work to stay on the horse and let it start up again, instead of getting on, getting off, getting on, getting off. But if we never get off, we might not know if we’ve gotten anywhere. It’s always good to stop and see what’s around the bend.

  5. Margot, you’re so right. I keep thinking about giving it up and becoming a book reviewer instead, but then I get one more idea…

    Hi Jan — do you use Internet Explorer? IE wouldn’t let me post a comment either, but it worked on Firefox.

    Duncan, focusing on the center seems to work, so maybe if I buy a pair of blinders the dizziness will go away?

    Hi Karen — I guess we’ll be doing this stuff forever, right?

    Terry — Now I have the image in my mind of a carousel that’s moving along a straight railroad track while it continues to go round and round.

    Alex — I don’t believe it. I bet you’re one of those writers who’s always focused on the task at hand.

    Yes, me, it is turning out to be a very weird day.

    Hi Mary and Talli — thanks for stopping by.

    Kay — you’re another one who seems very focused to me. I keep thinking I should be more like you.

  9. Good morning, everyone! I realized I missed an opportunity to say “when the musing starts” instead of “when the music starts.” Probably the dizziness…

    and now Blogger will not let me sign in on my own blog. I can tell this is going to be a weird day. Pat

  14. Exactly! And it is the getting back on the horse that makes you a writer – all the other stuff folks can do BUT it takes a real honest to-goodness writer to get back on that horse, dizzy or not.
    having another blogspot problem so will try and post annonymously but Jan Morrison