It’s all a bit harder than I thought.

“It’s all a bit harder than I thought.”

I groan when I hear myself say these words.

And not because I have a feeling my editor would point out they're not grammatically correct and I'm using superfluous words.
It's because I find myself using them so often.
It’s a habit of mine to be optimistic and dive into something with great plans, dreaming how wonderful it's going to be.

Then, suddenly I realise there is more work involved than I anticipated. 

I keep trying until it becomes clear I just can't do it.

That's when I turn to my husband and admit it’s beyond me. I don’t have the ability, time or strength to complete the project. I need some help.

And Rob helps.

Every single time.

I do the bulk of the work, but he takes on my vision and shares my dream and I end up with the results I’d hoped for. 

Often better.

Like this doll’s house for my daughter.

I had big ideas when I designed it. I had a grand time working out how impressive it was going to be.

Big ideas ...

Then I got to the hard bit. I started sawing the wood. My wrists – weak and painful from carpal tunnel syndrome – gave out on me. Rob did the cutting.

Next I realised my design for the stairs wasn’t going to work. Rob suggested a simpler way. I had to let go of one aspect of my dream. Even though my spiral staircase was going to be the star of my construction (insert the laughter of hindsight here!).

Simpler but better than I imagined.

And finally it became clear I had made some wrong measurements and the parts didn’t quite fit together. Rob was able to work out where I’d gone wrong and re-size for me.

There were things I didn’t know about working with wood. I didn’t have the skills and my imagined 'raw talent' was not enough. Rob had those skills and passed his knowledge on to me.

If I’d insisted on doing it alone I wouldn’t have finished.
Or maybe I would have, but that might have been worse.

How is your writing journey?

Have you realised it’s 'all a bit harder than you thought'?

You begin your writing journey all excited because writing is the fun bit. There are grand dreams of people loving your writing as much as you enjoy writing.

My amateur attempt at a book cover

But even if you know how to write, you might not know how to find a publisher. Or how to self-publish. How to market. You can’t move forward unless someone helps you.

Perhaps you now understand every author –including you with your God-given manuscript- needs an editor. And your editor points out you need to cut out some of the bits you love. They’re too complicated, the manuscript is too long, some of the bits just don’t fit together properly.

Or maybe it hits you that don’t have the skills required to complete the job. You can’t scrape through with your 'raw talent'. You didn’t know how much you didn’t know until you were right smack, bang in the middle of it.

Working with a professional (spiral staircase version)

It would be easier to give up.

Or barge ahead on your own and decide 'it'll do'.

Please don’t!  You are not alone.

As Christian writers we have God. 

We have each other.

We have sites like this one to encourage one another, share insights, network, develop our skills. (When Rob was seriously unwell a few months back and I thought I might lose him, I came to this site to request prayer. The prayer support and encouragement moved me to tears - thank you everyone. God knew I needed you!)

There are conferences like the Omega Writers’ Conference where you can meet those who can help you; editors, publishers, like-minded authors, those with skills and experience they can pass on to you.

We need each other. Just like I needed a professional elancer and Bookwhispers to do the covers of my self-published books (I've added pictures to show you my book-cover journey and illustrate my point).

Communicating til we're all happy

It is not a sign of weakness to realise you need help, but rather a sign of humility and strength. Because none of us were meant to do it alone.

So if you’re at that point of feeling, ‘It’s all a bit harder than I thought’, take heart. Keep going. Reach out to those who can help and the end results could be different, but far better than you ever imagined.

And the reality is far better than the dream.

Jenny is involved in the Omega Writers' Conference and would love to see you there. To find out more, go to www.omegawriters.org/conference-2016/

Jenny loves writing inspirational Christian fiction for young adults. She is the wife of Rob and the mother of Micah, Merridy, Clarity and Amelia. They live in the country town of Gundagai with lots of pets. Jenny is the author of 7 published novels. She is a primary school chaplain, enjoys inspirational speaking, and is passionate about sharing her writing knowledge and experience and encouraging others in their walk with Jesus.

To find out more about her and her books you can go to www.jennyglazebrook.com