Ups and Downs

Everyone always talks about the rhinocerous-like hide you've got to develop in the writing business -- well, any business for that matter. But is that harder when you're a "sensitive artiste" type?

To be a writer is to have access to your emotions. You pull from them moment-by-moment as you write. How does the character feel? When did you feel that way? What did it feel like to feel that way? It's no less than freaking Method Acting in some ways.

But then, once the day's pages are filed away we're supposed to put on the business hat and stow the emotions?

I think it's impossible. We're who we are because we can feel. We do feel. So it's natural to take a bit of a personal hit when facing a setback or challenge careerwise.

The good side of all this? The ups we experience fully. The highs of writing a great scene, of finishing a book, of starting something new. In between traversing the dark insecure valleys, you get to climb the mountains and check out the view.

So how do you develop the thick skin while still being able to access emotions? You can't just say, "I don't care." That's be an outright lie. You do care about writing a good story, getting an agent, your Amazon ranking or whatever. But maybe you can say, "I won't care that much. I won't let it get to me."

I'm working on this. I don't know any serious writer who isn't.