Michael T. Hare

I’ve never hated the stories that I write…………………………. did I get you? Or were the ellipses a tell?

Every author comes to a state in their writing when they hate it. Maybe it’s the story, perhaps it’s the characters, or maybe it’s the way you type up a sentence! If you’re anything like me, you might even consider quitting the whole story and creating a new one. I hate to say it, my friend, but even if you switch projects, you’ll just come to the same low spot you’re in now. This is because the root of your supposed ‘hatred’ doesn’t lie with your story. Think of it as an author’s growing pain—no great work of art was handled without hardship. For example, we have Michaelangelo and the Sistine Chaple. The artwork is incredible, yes, but do you think it was easy? Do you think he simply painted some stuff over the roof without breaking a sweat? I wouldn’t think so. (In fact, he was so focused on his work that he forgot to remove his boots for weeks at a time, meaning that when he finally took them off, his skin came off with them!)

You have to ride with the frustration and go along with it. Don’t avoid it, and don’t fight it either. Just ride it out. When I get into the state of hating my book, I just remind myself that it will pass. This is a natural feeling of creating a story, of creating anything, really—whether that be a book about dragons or a family vacation! Push through it, know your worth, and don’t give in to thoughts like ‘Maybe I’m not good enough’ or ‘My story is nothing compared to so-and-so’s.’ Those are some root causes of book hatred, but your story doesn’t need a compare-and-contrast essay to be good! It requires effort and a goal. In this case, effort is riding through that hated and sitting with your ‘terrible’ book until it passes. Like Michaelangelo, we need to view our work as something worth finishing (not that I want you to lose your skin or anything, but you get my point).

An excellent way to do this is by seeing past the pain. Hating your book is the author’s equivalent of pushups. They burn, yes, but that means the process is working. You’re getting stronger, but this can be hard to realize in the midst of your doubt, in the midst of the burn. But you can do it. Focus on what you can do to the challenge, not what the challenge can do to you.

Happy writing!