Cintia asked Susan Meier:

I'm an aspiring writer, but I'm dealing with two things: I get discouraged every single day because 96% of manuscripts are rejected, and I haven't had an idea for years, literally. There's too many people wanting to be writers, and knowing there's so much competition just kills me a little every day. When I get motivated, immediatly something appears about the industry that kills it. Any tips on how to deal with this?

Susan Meier It's funny you should mention this. I was just talking about this very thing with some friends, discussing new year's resolutions. The easy answer is to focus on your book, your story.

The not-so-easy answer is to not care about publishing and/or selling your book, but caring deeply, passionately about your story. The best books are the ones that beg to be written. They haunt our souls.

You can get an idea like that by watching the world around you (my friend and I came up with a story idea this morning from a non-writer's Instagram post...LOL), from reading other people's books (that's a great way to jumpstart ideas) or from your imagination....just start saying what if?

Art wasn't meant to be about money or recognition. It's more about a need inside you. When you let go of the idea of publishing and just listen to the stories inside you that want to be told, the ideas will come. And if you work, eventually the sales will come, too.

But first you have to let it all go and just fall in love with a story.

susan

flag