Q is for Quitting

I'm a quitter.

That's right, you heard me.  I'm a quitter.

I've quit writing.  No, not today.  Definitely not today.  Today I'm closer than I've ever been to the point of actually submitting my work for publication than I've been for a little over ten years.  But in the past, more than once, I quit writing.

That was a mistake.  I'm a natural born writer.  What that means is I've had some kind of crayon/pencil/pen/word processor in my hand since the day I learned how to read.  My writing is crap most of the time.  But without my writing, I go nuts.  I have to write.  If I can't express myself with the written word then I have a serious build up of random bits of things floating around in my head that escape into my dreams and make sleeping rather annoying and sometimes uncomfortable or terrifying.

Some people draw.  Some people (like almost all of you) write.  Others sing.  Some dance.  Or sew.  Or make jewelry.  Or work with clay.  The list goes on and on.  We're each a natural SOMETHING, and I'm sure at some point in our lives we've all quit thinking we'd never take it up again.

But there it is, on a shelf in the back of our minds - or our closets, or in our garage - and it's taking up space.  It's a reminder of what we swore we'd never get back into.  It's like a dirty little secret lurking there, gathering dust, and expanding until one day it breaks free and we dive back into it.

I did that, and ONLY A NAME is closer to being a publishable manuscript (I hope) than I ever expected it to be.  I've got a dozen or more projects either needing to be edited, waiting to be written, or needing some love to  get them to the point of my writing them (world building and character development).  I LOVE writing and regret ever quitting.

Do I think I'll quit writing again?  Probably.  When the rejections pile up and I feel discouraged.  I may quit for a while.  But writing will always be there and I'll always come back to it.