Let me be clear. In spite of what some writers will tell you, writing is not the hardest job in the world. It is not as hard as roofing in Florida in the middle of July; you get to sit down in air conditioning to write. Its not brain surgery; no one is going to die if you make a mistake (unless you write murder mysteries). And it's definitely not as hard as parenting toddlers; your book is not going to smear poop on the walls (what is that smell?). There are many jobs harder than writing. For that matter many hobbies are harder--skydiving for example.

But make no mistake. Writing is hard. It is not for the faint-hearted. It’s not easy to sit down in front of your computer, or with your laptop, or with your pen and notebook (if you’re a Luddite) every day (yes, every day, or at least several times a week, but more on that later) and struggle to fill the blank screen/page with words that sound like they came from someone with reasonable intelligence. Most of the time, if you come up with anything, you’ll look at what you wrote and wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing. You’ll think what you wrote was garbage (and in truth, it probably is, but again more on that later). Then you’ll open your browser (or another tab if you’re working in Google Docs) and spend an hour or so on Facebook or watching cat videos on Youtube.

Trust me. I’ve been there. It’s not pleasant.

But sometimes, you’ll write a scene that grips you so much you start crying halfway through. The words flow effortlessly from your brain through your fingertips onto the keyboard and appear as if by magic on the screen. Time stops. You forget where you are. When you’re done with the scene, your writing time is over and you’ve written a couple thousand words. And they’re not half bad.

It’s those times, as rare as they are, that makes writing so much fun. At least that’s what I’ve found. But to get there, you need to have the fortitude to get through the rough times. It’ll be a lot easier to do that if you begin by assuming it’s going to be hard most of the time.

But just remember--there’s a reason you started writing to begin with. The reasons are unique to each person; my reasons are not your reasons, and Stephen King’s reasons are not George R. R. Martin’s. Whatever they happen to be, keep the reasons in mind when faced with a particularly hard time in your writing. Focus on what motivated you to write in the first place, instead of how hard it is or how bad your writing seems. It will get you through the bad times. Because if you don’t get through the bad, you’ll never experience the great.