Wednesday, April 9, 2014

H is for Hope

H is for Hope. Every time we start writing a new book or work on a new story we fervently hope that it’s the one that will catapult us into the bigger league. That this story will break through the slush pile and be noticed in a big way. That this story will catch the agent’s eye.

When we see other writers’ success, we secretly nurture the seed of hope in our hearts. That we too will make it big soon. It’s this hope that makes us swim through the deep ocean of publishing with the sharks of rejection chasing us all the time.

All of us are high on hope. Hope propels the writing journey and makes us write more and more. For me, whenever I click the send button, I do so with hope, that it’s an acceptance that I will receive in the return mail.

This reminds me about an incident I read. I have forgotten the writer's name. This particular writer autographed one of his classic novels he had written and sent it to his friend. A few months later when the writer visited a second-hand bookstore, he found the autographed book. He bought it and sent it with a second autograph, "this time I hope you will read the book."

What do you hope for in your writing? How would you feel if your autographed book lands up in the second-hand store?

Note: this is my post for the A to Z Challenge. My theme is Emotions and Feelings writers experience.




18 comments:

  1. Hope is what keeps us going definitely. Great choice for H! :-)

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  2. His friend got rid of his book? Even if he never read it, that's cold.

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  3. Writers go through so much and put so much effort into their work. I admire you. I hope the best for you.

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  4. What a friend...it makes me sad. Even if he never read it. I'm taking personal offense to this lol I hope he read it the second time...or at least keep it.

    Great post on hope, we surely do leave a lot of it in our books while writing. ;)

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  5. What kind of friend gets rid of an autographed book? Rude!

    Elsie
    AJ's wHooligan in the A-Z Challenge

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  6. I'd be hurt if I found my autographed book in a second hand store like that! That's harsh. As far as hope with regard to my writing? Simply that people will want to read my words :)

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  7. Great choice for H. Hope is a very powerful word.

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  8. I do enjoy that ray of hope you feel every time you start a new project.

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  9. Even the most bitter and jaded of us have hope somewhere deep inside. Part of being human, I think.

    mood

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  10. Excellent theme and wonderful word. We need to keep our hope alive, that's what keeps our fingers typing and our ideas turning.

    Play off the Page

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  11. I hope my writing makes a little bit of difference to someone some day.

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  12. I too hope that my writing makes some difference in someone's life. If my autographed book landed up in a second-hand book store I would feel very insulted and hurt.

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  13. Even authors who've had several books published have to keep hope alive....hope their publisher doesn't go out of business, hope the next book doesn't get rejected, hope they finally write something worthy of a good-sized advance. Gotta keep the faith.

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  14. I hope my story collection will get published. I would so love for young people to be able to read it.

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  15. I wouldn't mind finding my novel in a second hand store! That means (hopefully LOL) that more folks will read it! More exposure... and yes, hope is the main thing that keeps me going...

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  16. Wow! What a "friend" So uncool!

    Me, there are so many things I "hope " for.
    For my muse to return.
    For my characters to start talking to me again.
    For time to actually sit down and write.
    For my story to make sense and be good.
    For someone to read it....and like it.
    For my words to matter.
    etc...etc...etc....

    Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
    My A to Z
    Caring for My Veteran

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  17. I hope for better friends than that writer had!

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