“Is the juice worth the squeeze?”

Today was one of those days when everything felt depressing. At this point, I’ve completed half of the book. To understand why this depressed me, here’s a bit of background for you. I finished the draft a few weeks ago, sent it to my developmental editor, and got some good feedback. Yet once I started adapting the story, I realized that I can’t shuffle and reshape what I already have. I needed to go back to the very beginning and rewrite the first half. So, this is where I am now: at the midway point, with a lot of new writing behind me. And then a moment came along - honestly, this doesn’t happen all that often - when I thought: Why? Why am I doing this? Who cares about this novel in the first place? Whether I write it or not, it won’t make any difference to the world whatsoever. I spent a quarter of an hour staring at a candle (I love writing by candlelight, especially in winter), feeling sorry for myself. And then, I started writing again. Because, in the end, that is what I love doing. Writing. Telling stories. Even if I’m the only one who ever reads them. (You see, still a bit depressed ;-) Don’t worry, I’ll cheer up soon) P.s. About the title: I recently listened to a podcast by Joanna Penn at Creative Penn where she quotes Rand Fishkin: “Is the juice worth the squeeze?” Basically, are we (writers) getting enough out of the process (of writing) to ultimately release a book? Is it all worth it? I thought, with today’s subject, this is just the right title ;-p