Perseverance is defined as “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” (Dictionary.com) Perseverance applies to so many aspects of our lives. Especially these days, everything seems to be a monumental struggle – Covid, politics, the economy, etc. But we can persevere. Each of us has a well of strength we don’t even know we have. There must be a zillion quotes that talk about this from Lao Tzu (the journey of a thousand miles…) to Winston Churchill (we will never surrender…) to Dr. Suess (oh, the places you’ll go…). An obstacle gets in our way and we push through or work around it. This month I am celebrating my own perseverance.
July marks the one-year anniversary of this blog. Last year, a writing friend casually suggested that I try writing a blog to keep me writing on a regular basis. “Butt in chair” has always been a struggle for me with respect to my writing. After thinking about it for several months – what would I write about, would anyone even be interested in what I had to say – I decided to give it a try. With my family’s help, I launched my author website and, From the Edge of the Rainbow was born.
In the beginning, I was uncertain about my blog. Did I have the right to write about LGBTQ+ issues and books when I’m not a direct member of the community? I discussed this with friends and family (especially, Thing 1), and they assured me, with enough sensitivity, I could write on this subject. Then there was the hardest part – to keep writing – every month. Some months the topic or book review has come easily, where my fingers on the keyboard could barely keep up with my brain. Some months, it has felt like pulling teeth. But I persevered, and here we are. I still remember how excited I was to have someone follow my blog who I didn’t know!
So much has happened to me in this last year. I reconnected with local writing friends and started working on new manuscript ideas. One was a picture book biography survey of famous and should-be-famous LGBTQ+ people. I read dozens of books and articles for research, took several online workshops to hone my writing craft, and poured my heart and soul into the writing – rhyming verses and sidebars of biographic information. I felt like this book was the “one”, the book that might actually get me published.
In June, I took a month-long class from the Highlights Foundation entitled “Writing the Rainbow” (writing LGBTQ+ children’s picture books). I had to submit my manuscript to the faculty, and received a one-on-one critique session with one of the instructors. Even though the manuscript wasn’t complete, I felt I was on the right path. Well, the critique meeting brought me down to Earth with a resounding thud. The instructor liked my overall concept and said my rhyming (which is actually difficult to do well) was very good. However, all the writing I had completed wasn’t really going to work.
Talk about a setback! I was majorly bummed out. All that work, for nothing. I was back at square one. Or, was I?
After I scraped my self-esteem off the floor, I realized that I wasn’t really back at square one. A better way to think about it was that this square one was actually square eight. Here’s that perseverance thing letting me move forward.
All the workshops I’ve taken have improved my writing. I’ve read a lot of interesting books about people I knew of, but didn’t know much about. I now have a terrific new group of writer friends (from Writing the Rainbow), and we’ve formed a critique group to support each other in our writing endeavors. Most importantly, one fact I learned during my research has started me on a journey writing a brand new manuscript. Who knows, maybe this will be the “one”.
Thanks for sticking with From the Edge of the Rainbow this past year. Happy anniversary and may we all persevere!
Marti Johns 