A writer spends hours, months, and even years in isolation practicing their art. But it can feel like the gerbil in the cage running on its wheel. They go forward a few steps and back a few steps. They might even get turned upside down only to fall, often without anyone to notice. While there is length to the journey, it doesn’t always seem to be going anywhere.

Eventually, their craft improves to the point that it can be taken into the marketplace. There, it can become an expression of their very soul. The artist pours everything they have into that event.

And despite the years of work, all the audience cares about is whether or not the performer sticks the dismount. (Anyone watching gymnastics knows what I’m talking about. And now I’m mixing metaphors.)

Seems a bit depressing when expressed like that. But, in some ways, that is the life of the artist … the writer, the painter, the dancer, the musician. You didn’t get into it because you knew you’d be a bazillionaire. You are an artist because it is a part of who you are. And in that, there is beauty. In that, there is meaning. In that, there is praise for our Creator. In that moment, your reader is taken to a place where they have never traveled before. Even if for just a moment. A new thought. A sudden gasp. A new set of goosebumps.

I watched my daughters perform as musicians and dancers for nearly their whole lives. I have seen the hours of practice, the sacrifice, the pain, and the frustration behind the scenes. But I also have been privileged to see the inexpressible joy well from within them as they create beauty.

Therefore, while you may toil away at your keyboard feeling like you are on the gerbil wheel of the writing life, in actuality, after today, you are one step closer to making something great.