One of the most challenging moments was editing, when I learned the truth in the adage, “Books are not written, they are rewritten.”
I also learned of the challenge of dealing with writer’s block. “As a writer, you’re more powerful than all the superheroes combined,” a teacher once told me. I was skeptical—superheroes don’t have writer’s block. But he told me about a famous writer committed to a mental hospital. He couldn’t write a word for years. After weeks of therapy, he asked for a typewriter and a sheaf of papers. The doctors cheered a breakthrough. After days of nonstop typing, the writer submitted his manuscript. The excited doctors read about a hero jumping onto a horse and shouting, “Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up” … for 300 pages.
According to my teacher, when asked about the redundancy, the writer shrugged and said, “Don’t blame me that the horse didn’t want to move.”
I’m glad that in my case I was at least able to move the horses!