“The work itself will teach you.”
Old Estonian Proverb
I saw these words etched on a stone at an art fair once and I’ve often wished I’d bought it at the time, but no matter, because by now, they are etched on my heart. Over and over again, I’ve turned to them as I’ve been working on my children’s novel. As a nonfiction writer, making a foray into the world of fantasy has been a huge leap for me and I’ve had a big learning curve. Being a “pantser,” not a “plotter,” I basically wrote my way into my story and figured it out as I went along. Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of false starts, detours, and my share of rejection as I’ve wrestled to make my story stronger and richer — and I’m probably still not there yet.
But here’s one thing I’ve learned from all this: “the work itself will teach you” is true — at least it’s proven so for me. No matter how many times I’ve felt discouraged or unsure about which way to go, how to move forward, somehow, my story has believed in me as much as I believed in it. As I kept on working, it kept changing, growing, showing me something new, something better.
And here’s something else I’ve learned: Some of my toughest moments on this writing project have ultimately proven to be my most rewarding ones. When I shifted from writing into submissions mode with an early draft because I felt I’d brought my novel as far as I could, I received a lot of agent passes. Sprinkled among them were nuggets of feedback that proved enormously helpful. They showed me the weaknesses in my story and, somehow, I managed to get beyond them and push my story to a new level.
Here are some words of wisdom that really struck a chord with me on this front. They’re by Ed Agresta from “Power Thoughts” — one of the motivational hotlines I listen to every day (609.660.8156):
“Winners find a way. Losers find an excuse. Some of our best lessons in life come from failure, rejection, and loss. Winners take the lessons they learn on their journey and keep going forward. If you’re going to find a way, you have to endure the hard times and be willing to fall and get up, and keep going again and again. As long as you keep on learning and moving, you’ll find the way that’s right for you — the right way to achieve the vision that’s in your heart.”
How true this is. Am I a winner? Who knows? When it comes to my novel, I’m not there yet. But I do know this: I’m a way finder. And when you’re a way finder, I believe the way finds you. Write on.