On Dealing with Writerly Disappointments

Photo credit: ImAges ImprObables on Flickr

Last week I got a bit of bad writing-related news. While the news had nothing to do with publishing (so don't worry!) it did mess up some of my plans which had been in the works for over a year.

So that sucked.

After I got over the initial shock and disappointment, however, it forced me to really reprioritize my projects and consider what the best next step was for my writing career.

The answer was honestly easy enough: finish revising the manuscript I've been working on forever so I can get it to my CPs and agent.

Having a productive response to bad news helped me feel better about it. I spent a day just a couple days after I got the news completely dedicated to revising that manuscript. I didn't finish, but I hit the halfway point, and I think I should be able to pound out the rest of the revisions with another dedicated day or two.

You can't always control the way various writing opportunities come and go, and there are a lot of external factors that are entirely out of our control. But you can control the way you respond, because ultimately, writing the next book is what matters.

How do you deal with writerly disappointments? 

Twitter-sized bite: 

How do you deal with writerly disappointments? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)