Dear Reader, Issue 3, Volume 2

Submissions, sickness and the subject of hard writing.

Dear Reader:

I made two submissions so far in 2023: one fiction short story for Factor Four Magazine and the other a non-fiction slice-of-life essay for

Understandably by Bill Murphy Jr.

. I wouldn’t normally submit non-fiction as it’s not a market with which I’m familiar, but I saw Bill’s request for guest authors come across my feed and it clicked. I wrote the first draft in a few hours, ran it past the “editorial board” and then submitted a week later after a few edits.

Other than those small victories, I have done little writing lately. I became sick over a week ago and instead of getting better the symptoms moved from one location on my body to another. I’m finally on the mend, with a slight dry cough, but it’s a continual reminder that I don’t write to heal or process my emotional or physical state of being. I’m quite useless when I’m not feeling well.

I sense that I may be in the minority. Many authors have shared that writing is a healing salve, applied liberally during terminal illness, family turmoil and unexpected career changes. Anyone who can do this has my deepest respect and admiration. I can only write when the valley is in my rear-view mirror, a reflection of terrible things that can shape my output, but that does not motivate me.

Is Writing Hard?

The sickness got me thinking about writing and if I consider it hard. You know now it’s almost impossible if I’m not healthy. But what about when the stars have aligned, my wits are about me and I’m determined to write? The answer is no, writing is not hard. Of course, that statement alone requires me to define ‘hard’, just like one might define ‘success’.

Hard doesn’t indicate I can make a living with it. I’m not concerned about the business of writing because like so many other paths we take in life, there’s a fair amount of luck involved. I also have a full-time career. If the business finds me, so be it. Hard also doesn’t refer to length of time at which I can sit and write. I suppose if my back allowed, I could sit for days, weeks, months or years and write.

When people ask if writing is hard, or authors make allusions to the difficulty of writing, it’s often in reference to the act of constructing a solid story or narrative. It’s putting coherent, well thought out sentences, paragraphs and pages together, in order to tell a story worth remembering. That is not hard and I’m a firm believer anyone can do it. Whether or not everyone will enjoy the way I do it is another question altogether.

I think some writers want to believe it’s hard because that would give meaning to the failures. What if I enjoy this activity and others are entertained, but it does not reach the intended audience of gatekeepers who are the chief arbiters of accolades? Or, in contrast, what if financial success follows, but it sinks beneath the weight of future expectations? In those situations, it’s easier to say that writing is hard and not everyone can do it.

Instead, I prefer the alternative view. Writing is not hard. Stories have scales, or even incalculable vectors that help them reach (or miss by wide margins) mass appeal. Sometimes it’s related to quality, a voice that’s quite different from the norm, exposure to the right audience or even the prevailing political winds that day. For one to say, I liked that story, could mean that thousands of other readers hated it.

If you’re a writer, and you find it hard, ask yourself why it’s so challenging. If you’re constrained, paralyzed by the fear of rejection that awaits you upon finishing a story, then it’s possible it’s not an issue of easy or hard. Allow yourself the freedom to be dismissed, and you should find your stories write themselves, unencumbered by outside bias.

Good or bad, whatever that may mean, those stories are meant to be told, and told with ease.

Happy Reading,

Brian Reindel