Hope is a Powerful Thing

A post from Jane Friedman’s blog: Yes, Writers Need to Hear the Hard Truths. But Warnings Can Go Too Far

Many years ago, when I was invited to guest speak about my writing journey, I spoke about my trials and tribulations. When I opened the floor for Q&A at the end, a teenage girl in the front row raised her hand first. She asked me, “Why should I even bother?”

Whereas I thought I had been inspirational by sharing all the hardship I had been through, it had frozen a teen writer in her boots. …

Sometimes I worry for the writer who attends a conference for the first time and hears discouraging conversations over and over. Yes, those discussions are important to have. But hope is a powerful thing. I don’t want the world to miss out on fantastic art because a writer left a program wondering why they are even trying. 

This strikes me as a good and useful post. There’s plenty of negativity in the world, especially right now.