How does a writer cope with the often inevitable, painful jagged edges of her broken dreams and failed hopes?

 

If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, take heart. I found one answer this week in a long (and particularly good) article.

 

The Seven Stages of Publishing Grief (or Hello Darkness, My Old Friend)  by Robin LaFevers takes writers into, through (and back out of) the special grief process that all writers experience (usually more than once.) The stages rang true to me. See if they do for you.

 

The author cautions you not to get stuck in the first four stages–good advice–but to keep moving on through to the happier ending.

 

You might want to print out this article for future reference. While the writing life isn’t all broken dreams and failed hopes, it does contain a fair amount of it. Learning how to grieve it–then move on to productive work again–is a vital writing skill.