I’ve recently joined a writing group, which is fun and exciting.
There’s something different about discussing writing with those who also prioritise it, there’s something special in explaining why we write, and how it means something big. It’s encouraging and motivating to share and express.
Before I went to the writing group this afternoon, I woke to an email that told me a short story I submitted was accepted in an online journal and physical magazine, which will be available in September. This means my day started with happiness and hope and I thought about writing for hours.
With both of these things, I am reminded how important writing is to me and how much I want it to work for me, with me. As a mostly solitary act, and with no certainty of success, writing can be discouraging and disappointing. We all need moments of small boosts, moments that remind us why we’re doing something or why we love it.
If I never got published, I would still write. Because I love it. But being encouraged reminds me that it’s worth prioritising, that I love it too much to let it fall through the cracks.
As I said in this post, blogging will look a little different because I am saving my poetry for a collection that I hope to be published. (I’ve already started researching literary agents, which is a whole other world that can be incredibly intimidating.) So it may look like I’m not prioritising my writing, but just because I may be blogging a little less, or posting less poems, doesn’t mean things are falling apart. I think it means the opposite; I think it means I’m pulling things together and am prioritising writing more than ever.
Still, we’ll see where I end up. But I think it’ll be somewhere good.
Sarah xx
the softest words 