Sometimes Not Giving Up is the Only Option You Have

By: Ebonye Gussine Wilkins

Writers are a funny bunch. They spend a lot of time writing, or occasionally they spend almost no time writing. They produce lots of work, or they produce a singular masterpiece and then stop. Some write for others, and some write for themselves. But I think they will all agree that writing is damn hard work. You really have to love it to continue doing it. It’s not a glamorous life, and many times, it’s not even rewarding enough to keep going. But you keep going anyway, because it’s better than giving up.

Life will get in the way of writing novels. It will get in the way of writing blogs, penning articles, and typing out plays. You’ll be left with mangled manuscripts and annoying alliterations. You will realize that everyone is reading your work or that no one is reading your work. You will realize that most of the time this writing thing isn’t fun at all and that it’s easier to just watch TV or read someone else’s work. And you want to just give up.

I’m here to tell you, don’t give up on your writing.

Writing is a labor of love. If you don’t love it, don’t labor over it. It will never be perfect. Sometimes, it won’t even be very good. But it doesn’t mean that you’ll never write anything good. It doesn’t mean that your words won’t touch someone, somewhere who needs to hear them. Proving something, whatever that may be, to yourself is reason alone not to give up. At the end of the day, you have to be happy that you are a writer. The fact that you write consistently, in some form, makes you a writer. You don’t have to share your work with the world if you don’t want to. But you should never, ever give up on something you love. It’s like giving up a part of yourself, and if you like yourself, you have yet another reason to keep writing.

Failure is okay. It’s what you do with that failure that matters the most.

Don’t give up on your writing.