Some of my friends in the Writing World are going through tough times. I hate this for them — writing is hard enough without dealing with rejected manuscripts, agent-loss, and endless rounds of inadequate revision.

You may not know it, my dear sweet Writer Friends, but over the past few years, I’ve had those times, too. Really, really bad times. I just don’t blog about them.

(Someday I will, but I’ll need to sell a few more books before I feel safe enough to share those parts of my writing journey in all their gory detail. I might also need some awards or something. A Newbery, and I will tell ALL, in a long-winded, Gwyneth Paltrow-worthy speech to people eating hotel-kitchen baked chicken and white rolls.

Give me a minute to step back from that crazy fantasy. (*slaps self to regain sanity*) )

The thing is, if you’re pursuing traditional publication, there are going to be some really bad days. Bad months, even, when the novel you’ve been working on doesn’t turn out to be the next Best Book in the World.

And on those days? After the chocolate has been eaten, the wine drunk, and the kids yelled at?

Go back to the page, Dear Friends. Run back to the page, and write the next damn book.

A poem I memorized when I was a little girl came into my mind today, when I got a sad email from a friend about a manuscript that might be laid to rest soon. It’s “We Play at Paste,” by Emily Dickinson, and the line goes “…our new hands — learned gem-tactics — practicing sands.”

The next book might be the gem. And the time you spent on the last ones? Never wasted, never lost. You learned gem tactics, practicing on those lovely early stories.

Now go and write, my wonderful dear, talented Writer Friends.