Does Life Get In A Writer’s Way? By Sara Jane Sheikh

Hi, Brit Writers!

I’ve been writing, pretty much, always. And wondering why it takes so damn long to gain measurable success as a writer. The answer I’ve come up with is simple.

Life. And lack of time.  

Life is what hampers (as well as feeds) the already protracted process of becoming a writer. And that infuriating day job is the biggest meddler, the fattest chomper of time.

How can any dedicated writer stay in the creative moment when they have to keep setting the alarm clock and stomping off to the office?

But that’s not all that’s hindered the smooth transit of my own writing career – illness, dejection, rejection, depression, job changes and twitches of lunacy. And the ever faithful, oh-bugger-it-I’m-through-with-this-sh*t-I’m-no-longer-a-writer-okay? Sound familiar?  

But, somehow, we persevere, don’t we? Still filling up the notebooks, the diaries, the disk-drives. Slowly but surely. Perhaps we’re all a bit obsessive-compulsive; and it’s probably a good job.  

Many times I stopped writing altogether, the longest drought being almost two years. I started oil-painting instead, re-channelling my creativity in a less stressful way, leaning into a more forgiving industry for a while. I considered going back to my roots in psychology too. But that would be ridiculous; standing, peering up that long winding ladder, in my forties? No.

After decades of grappling with the writing monster and fighting with its cohort, time, there can be no giving up, not now. I tell myself that publication is an achievable goal if I work really hard at it. And I’m still working, but I’m maybe more accepting too.  

Sometimes I still want to squash my face against the wall, but mostly I believe...

I still believe it’s possible.

And I still love it, after all.

Writing just takes time. End of story.

Alongside more personal encouragement from literary agents, one generalised snippet has helped cement my determination all these years. The agent said that: Over 95% of received submissions were hopeless, so that if a genuinely talented writer persisted they were likely to eventually beat the odds and be accepted.

So I grit my teeth and set that damned alarm.

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