12 Emotional Struggles Only Writers Will Understand (And One Epic Win)

It's a cold, cold world out there, full of grammar corrections and rejection letters. We writers have to deal with a lot more than just actually writing, after all. We have to deal with all these emotions! Everywhere! Getting all over everything!

Emotions are hard, man. Like, for instance...


1. The irritation you feel when someone misuses the words "your" or "you're."

Come on, people. 

2. The debilitating shame you feel when you realize that you wrote "your" instead of "you're" in that last email.

My life is lie. 

3. The judgement you face when you haven't read a book someone else considers a "classic."

Dickens is boring. There, I said it!

4. The judgement you face when you have read every single snippet of writing that even remotely relates to your favorite book series.

Super-cool. 

5. The feeling of despair after your query is rejected for the 18th time.

And the 19th. And the 20th. 

6. Feeling like a total nube when you're writing in a new genre and have to google the formatting rules.

Nothing makes sense in my life anymore!

7. Your love/hate relationship with the internet. So. Distracting.

But I need it for research!

8. The stress of trying to eavesdrop on strangers without being caught.

It's okay, Sam. You were probably just researching wizard dialects for your novel. 

9. The awkward feeling of wanting someone to read/give feedback on your work, but don't know how to ask.

It's only 85,000 words! 

10. Trying to explain wordcount in terms of pagecount to non-writing friends and suddenly understanding why the rest of the world wishes the U.S. would get on board with the metric system, already!

Congrats, Rose, you are officially part of the problem.

11. When someone asks you, "So, what's your story about?" and you have to explain your YA/Gothic Fantasy/Comedy premise out loud.

It sounded better in my head, okay?

12. The awful feeling of having to cut away your favorite scenes, or even entire characters...

Sorry, girl. They didn't advance the plot.

Yep, emotions are hard. But we trudge on, because we're writers, damn it. 

And the win? The epic feeling of awesome that makes it all worth it? 

Finally finishing that draft, of course. 

Without even missing your deadline.

Well, dear writers, did I miss any? What are some of your struggles and wins?

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