Anvils, Coyotes and Editors... Oh My!

Remember Wile E. Coyote and his never-ending ACME-equipped attacks against the poor (yet rather pompous) roadrunner? Why, you might ask, would anyone who had once been tagged by an anvil dropped from a cliff decide it wise to try and rig up said anvil again? One would think he'd have caught on eventually, given up his quest to destroy the roadrunner and retired to a nice oasis-side villa somewhere. And anyway, seeing as how he always managed to come out of each accident alive, albeit shaped like an accordion, you'd think he would have realized that none of his tricks would ever truly take the roadrunner out of commission. Why keep trying even when he had to figure he was in for a world of hurt?

The answer? Because he was compelled to. It was his mission in his animated life.

Just like writing is for some of us. It's something we feel we're meant to do. And so, even when one more anvil (read: rejection letter) compacts us into a cube, we know deep down that after a day or two of overeating and a box or two of tissues, we'll be right back at it. We'll dig our heels in, rewrite and edit, research some ideas, and get that proposal back out to another editor.

And wait for the anvil.

But the hope that keeps us going is that sometime, someday, we've got to get by without being clobbered. One day someone will notice the merit in our work and decide to take a chance on us. We just keep on plugging away, day after day, proposal after proposal, query letter after query letter.

Because we have hope.

If you're out there knowing this is what you're called to do, and you just don't think you can take the pain of it anymore, remember that you're not alone. We've all been there. And, above all, remember that anything the Lord calls you to do, He will equip you for. He never sends us on a journey without a constant supply of all we need to accomplish it.

So, next time you see that rejection letter in the stack of mail, remember that.

And remember to wear your hard hat.