The Writer's Serenity Prayer

A bit of paraphrase for those of us making the long slog through our writing journey.

God, grant me the serenity
To accept that I can accomplish my goal of finishing a draft;
Courage to change the things I need to edit;
And wisdom to know that perfection in writing doesn't exist.


Other verses would include things like:

Cause me to remember that opinions are not judgments of my person,
Errors are only mistakes so long as I refuse to correct them,
My book is written in ink not blood; it took effort to write, not my life,
And I am not responsible for making everyone love it.

Help me to understand that publishing is slow,
Keeping it's pace doesn't mean agents or editors are uninterested,
What's perfect for me may not fit with someone else,
And that my dream agent is the one who loves my work as much as I do.

Keep my mind on my work,
My butt in my chair,
My fingers on my keyboard,
And my eyes on the goal.


Publishing is a leap of faith from the first word you type into your shiny new document. You have to believe you have an idea worth writing, believe you have the ability to write it, and believe you can see it through to the end.

You go to another level when you finish that draft and edit it, then send it out into the big, mean world to be kicked around by people with no attachment to it. If you land an agent, they have to believe you're a worthwhile risk.

Even once you reach your goal of publication, you still have to believe that others will pay money and spend time to enjoy your words. Your publisher has to believe you'll turn a profit.

And to that end, I leave you with THIS. (Just don't get sucked into the YouTube Vortex of Doom listening to old music.)