Can I Do This?

Novel Word Count: 16,242

Can I do this? Can I make a living off writing?

I made the mistake of Googling “Should I be a writer?”; I knew it was a bad idea.

I found all sorts of discouraging information. In one mean spirited article the writer essentially said: writing is hard, you probably suck at it, and even if you don’t your chances are slim, so give up.

I read a few, “signs you should/should not be an author” lists. They were humorously inconclusive. A handful said you shouldn’t be a writer if you don’t take criticism well, which makes no sense to me. I haven’t met a deeply creative person who takes criticism well. Nobody sees something they created figuratively marked up in red pen and isn’t at least a little heartbroken.

Do I write well enough? Do I use too little description, or are my descriptions just bad? Is my grammar terrible? Does my dialogue suck?

I finally found the thing I could see myself doing everyday for the long haul, but I’m filled with doubt and desperation.

On top of the doubts I have about my actual book, there’s selling the thing. I ranted about that last Wednesday.

I’ll leave it at this for now: this book is getting written because I love writing it. I can’t control if people will like the book, or this blog, or me. So if I’m finishing this book regardless of the outcome, I may as well enjoy the process, right? To be as cliche as possible, I can only do my best and leave the rest to fate.