Persistence in Writing and Life
7 Dec, 2011 | What's happening in my writing life
Persist – to continue obstinately despite opposition
Persistent – unrelenting
So, one of my qualities, good or bad, is persistence. Perhaps in other areas of my life it isn’t the best part of me, but when it comes to writing, particularly research, I tend to think it’s a good quality.
As often happens with stories, writers stop and start, become dejected, frustrated, perhaps even angry that a story isn’t behaving as it should, isn’t travelling in the right direction.
Other times, there’s that one piece of research, one small elusive piece of the jig-saw that seems impossible to find.
This week I found my last piece of jig-saw, one I’ve been searching for, for almost 5 years – not a constant 5 years, but every so often, over that time, I’ve returned to this story, done yet another re-write, changed to a new format or a new voice and always carried on digging.
I’m not there yet, but I can see it now, the end of that long, challenging, mountainous but ultimately joyful road and I know the persistence will be worth it.
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