It's a cold, cold world out there, full of grammar corrections and rejection letters. We writers have to deal with a lot more than just actually writing, after all. We have to deal with all these emotions! Everywhere! Getting all over everything!
Emotions are hard, man. Like, for instance, we'll start small...
1. The irritation you feel when someone misuses the words "your" or "you're."
Come on, people.
2. But that only makes the debilitating shame you feel WORSE when you realize that you wrote "your" instead of "you're" in that last email.
I'm a hack, aren't I? Just a no-good hack...
3. How about the judgement you face when you haven't read a book someone else considers a "classic"? Ugh.
Dickens is BORING, okay? There, I said it!
4. And the other kind of judgement you face when you have read, like, every SINGLE snippet of writing/fan fiction/fan theories/online memes that even remotely relate to your favorite book series. Especially if it's NOT a classic (yet).
I am super-cool in...certain circles.
5. Trying to explain word count in terms of page count to non-writing friends and suddenly understanding why the rest of the world wishes the U.S. would get on board with the metric system, already!
A summary of our reasoning.
6. Feeling like a total nube when you're writing in a new genre and have to Google the formatting rules.
Nothing makes sense in my life anymore!
7. Your love/hate relationship with the internet. So. Distracting.
But I need it for research!
8. The stress of trying to eavesdrop on strangers without being caught. Because yes, that is a thing we do. Sorry in advance.
It's okay, Sam. You were probably just trying to perfect the wizard dialects in your next novel!
9. The awkward feeling of wanting someone to read/give feedback on your manuscript, but you don't quite know how to ask. Because it's kind of a commitment.
It's only 85,000 words!
10. And then that someone oh-so-innocently asks you, "So, what's your story about?" And you have to explain your YA/Gothic Fantasy/Comedy premise. Out loud.
It works on paper, okay?
11. And since we're on sharing our work, how about the feeling of utter and total despair after your query is rejected for the 18th time. It's not personal, right? It's just a piece of my soul that someone has designated as not fit for public consumption. NBD.
Maybe all writers are secretly masochists?
12. But maybe even worse than that rejection is the awful feeling of having to cut away your favorite scenes. Or even -- *heart twists painfully right out of my chest* -- entire characters. Characters who LOVED you, man! Who TRUSTED you!
Sorry, girl. They didn't advance the plot.
See what I mean? Emotions are hard! But we trudge on, because we're writers, damn it.
But...there are wins, too. One in particular -- one epic feeling of awesome that makes it allllll worth it. What is precious feeling, you ask?
Finally finishing your draft, of course.
And if it's a first draft it literally looks exactly like that.