This Is My Secret: The Blog and Website of Writer Kristin Cashore

I wouldn't mind if that's what it said on my tombstone.

So, recently, I got into a bit of a plotting pickle with this thing I'm writing. I just couldn't figure out a particular aspect of the story. In my usual fashion, I threw myself at it, then threw myself at it again, and again, hoping that my self-propulsion would manage to bash me through it, because sometimes, it does. This time, it didn't. Realizing that what I needed was a break, I put my notebook away. For several days, I did other things, anything, provided that it was neither writing nor thinking about writing. From time to time, the writing tried to lure me back. It has a whole bag of tricks it likes to use on these occasions: it tried to make me feel guilty; it tried scaring me into believing my book was in peril if I didn't get back to work; it tried presenting me with a nice, tempting, challenging wall to throw myself at. Every time, just like with a meditation practice, I smiled, noticed what t…

You talk about keeping the faith while writing -- but how do you keep going when you can see that your manuscript is a total mess? How do you keep the faith?

Well... I don't know; maybe a combination of mulishness, arrogance, and self-delusion? :o) All underrated qualities, IMO. More seriously, I keep it because I have to. I mean, what other option do I have? Giving up? Is that really an option? If I keep going, mightn't the book fail? Yeah, it really might. But if I give up, there's no longer any "might" about it -- it will fail. Sorry, but that kind of failure seems to me like the least satisfying kind of failure. If my book fails, it will NOT be because I didn't try hard enough. I'm not going down without a fight!

I get a little annoyed when I hear people talking about the inherent insecurity and low self-esteem of "the artist." Art glows with faith even in its weakest parts. At every moment, writing is an act of self-confidence -- the she…