Writing: Gift or Curse?

Writing: Gift or Curse?
by
Cher Gorman

Fifty-eight years have passed since the bombing of Pearl Harbor and it is truly a day that none of us, no matter our age, will ever forget. So what does the bombing of Pearl Harbor have to do with writing?

The tragedy at Pearl Harbor was a painful event in our history where we lost countless lives and half our fleet. But true to the American spirit we prevailed by fighting back to eventually conquer our enemies.

I think we do the same with our writing.

We work through the sometimes-arduous process of putting a story on paper to find the gold. The gold is the characters; the conflict; the motivations; the reason we feel compelled to write in the first place. Not with money in mind-although all of us are part capitalist, I think, and want to be rewarded for our labor-but because we can't rid ourselves of the desire to write nor do we want to. We never stop fighting for the gold.

If I woke up one morning and found that I was no longer able to write, the desire, the need to do so would still burn inside me and the pain of not being able to put my stories on paper would be a torment. I suppose this is where the "curse" of writing comes into play.

Are we unhappy when we aren't writing? Are we unhappy when we're writing and the story isn't going well? When we get the painful rejection or harsh critique do we sit back, lick our wounds and regroup? For most of us I think the answer is yes. The burning desire to write, to succeed, to prove to ourselves and the world that we can do it, never goes away.

So is writing a curse or a gift? I think it is a little of both. Sometimes a character will stay in our head, talking to us, nagging us, until we tell their story. The whole agonizing, wonderful process of writing a story, the hard work, the frustration and rejections may seem to have started out as a curse but is transformed into a beautiful gift with a bright, shiny bow of self-satisfaction and pride tied around it when our character's story is told.

Perhaps writing is a gift disguised as a curse.

After all, some of the most wonderful experiences in life bring a combination of joy and pain, like falling in love and childbirth, for instance. We go through an excruciating process sometimes of telling our character's stories, of accepting criticism and rejection from editors, contest judges and our critique partners alike, but when we're done we have a gift. The gift of having put words on paper, of having fulfilled a dream, of having the courage and determination to tell a story. And yes, it does take courage to be a writer in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

In conclusion, I think writing is a gift to be prized, loved, nurtured and given to ourselves, first. When we're done we pass along this gift to our readers and hope in our own way we touch their hearts. Because touching hearts is what being a writer is all about.

Cher Gorman writes long contemporary romance and is working on her sixth novel. She is lucky enough to be able to write full time and is married with one daughter.