Jodi Whitehurst

I heard the name Ira Glass at Ozark Writer’s Conference in October 2023. He is a radio personality, but he has powerful videos from which every aspiring writer can learn. The one that I found most poignant only lasts 2 minutes and 18 seconds. It’s titled The Gap. In this video, Ira proposes that any person starting out in a creative work will first experience a period of creating that she will acknowledge misses the mark of what she would consider to be quality work. The answer? Fight your way through.

I recall my first fiction manuscript. I submitted a query letter, which was impressively written. I can sell. Then when it came time to send the full manuscript, I knew it missed the mark. It lacked the luster, the character development, the enticing plot. I sent it anyways because they asked for a book. I had a book. I knew the answer would be “We cannot publish this at this time.” They are typically nice about it. Rejections are a part of writing, but I knew this one was coming. Why? Because I possess good taste, and I knew I had produced a creative work that even I would have turned away. Every person seeking to perfect a craft begins this way. The “slump” is in the beginning. Most surrender at this point, when they are still a fledgling, when their wings have yet developed. They admit defeat and quit. The ones who make it are those who refuse to stop creating.

“Fight your way through it,” is Ira Glass’ advice. What does this mean for writers? Write more. If you’ve yet to create at the level to which you aspire, just keep writing until the magic happens. Don’t wave the white flag. Fight. Write.