Goodreads asked Michele Callahan:

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Michele Callahan Hearing from readers. I never feel like a story is finished. I never feel like the story is good enough. There is SO much in my mind that doesn't make it onto the page that I feel like there is no way I could have done the story justice. When a reader reaches out to tell me they liked my book, it is like being struck by lightning! I wanted to leap out of my chair and scream, "Yes! I really did it! I don't suck!"

I have finally made peace with "good enough" thanks to something Orson Scott Card wrote in the opener to a reprint of Ender's Game. He basically said that the world he creates when he writes a book isn't his world, it's not the world he sees in his head as an author. Each reader creates their own world by interacting with the words he gave them, and for every reader that world will be unique and unknowable by anyone else. I found that to be profound, and beautiful. And I decided to stop worrying about writing a 'perfect' book. I decided to simply write the best story I could and trust each person who reads my books to make the story into a unique and worthwhile experience for themselves. Knowing that I've reached someone, and the world they created with my words made them happy? That's the absolute best.

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