Writing is Hard Work and …

Have you ever yelled at a judge? I have! I probably should admit that it was Judge Judy, and I was protected by her confinement to the TV. Nevertheless, I did tell her what I thought.

As usual the Judge was questioning the man standing before her bench. She asked if he worked, and he replied that he was retired but that he was a novelist. She countered that with, “So you stay home and write. So, you don’t work.” Thus, began me yelling at the tv, “Writing is work!”

I know that what she probably meant was that this man did not have a nine to five job outside the home, but she seriously misspoke when she said that writing is not work.

Writing is definitely work!

It is time consuming. It requires planning and plotting. It can be tedious and frustrating. Even if you are one of those people who find writing easy and words flow like a waterfall from your fingertips, editing is not easy. Killing those little darlings is hard and sounds like something that could get you sent before a judge of a higher court.

So, not that we have refuted the claim that writing is not hard work.

Why do we do it?

Because it is also many other things.

It is an outlet for creativity. An expression of who you are in art form.

It is cathartic and a source for working out problems, letting go of hurts and filling your soul with good things.

It is joyful. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing that blank page as it fills up with words worthy of someone else’s reading time.

It is a contribution. Writers give back to the world, wisdom, entertainment, laughter, and truth.

There are a myriad of other things I could have listed. So go ahead and make your list of what writing is to you. But remember to add hard work to the list, expect it, be prepared for it but do not let that stop you. As the saying goes, “We can do hard things.”

Yes, Judge Judy should have been more careful about her choice of words, or she should get a new perspective on writing. Then again, maybe I should have been writing instead of watching Judge Judy.

Sue Davis Potts, Guest Contributor, is a freelance writer from Huntingdon, Tennessee. She is mother to her beautiful adult daughter, Jessa. Sue enjoys writing for both children and adults. She worked for years as a preschool teacher but feels most at home these days with other writers who speak her language. She has been published in local magazines, anthologies, Ideals, Southern Writer’s Magazine and Focus on the Family’s children’s magazines Clubhouse and Clubhouse, Jr.

She authored a children’s library book.  She is the author of a book of short motivations 101 Life Lessons From Uno (The One-Legged Duck) and coauthored. The Priceless Life (The Diane Price Story). Both books are available on Amazon. Sue can be found on her website, www.suedavispotts.com.