Pregnancies and writing

It typically takes (over) nine months to fully develop a child in the womb, and for most women its HELL.  The more nourishment and care you give it, the more likely it’s odds to thrive once its out. So you feed it well, steer clear of anything harmful, get plenty of rest and exercise.  You love its bumps and track its growth closely. Some pregnancies are harder than others, as is the creation of a novel.

For some women babies are a breeze, and for some women the little creatures growing inside suck the life right out of them. Pregnancy causes brain fog, vomiting, constipation and cramps. Sometimes the very hair of your head falls out and sometimes you end up covered, and I do mean COVERED, in pimples, rashes, age-spots, stretchmark’s, cellulite, and access body hair. The stress and joy of having a baby (and writing a book) walk hand in hand like a confused and very emotionally fresh new couple on a beach date.

Now lets talk about birthing a baby, and the similarities of that and releasing your book to the public. First comes anticipation. Is everything perfect and ready for its arrival?  Have you crossed all your T’s and dotted all your I’s?? You pace the floors hoping to be the best little parent that any baby/book can ever ask for. Then you “nest”. You clean and scrub and clean and scrub, and you triple check every step to take before and after the actual birth. On the drive the hospital your contractions increase, the pain is excruciating! You have never felt so afraid.

As soon as the deed is done and the baby is out, a wave of relief washes over you. The child screams to life and is glanced upon with love and admiration.  An overwhelming sense of pride settles inside of you, and although you’re still numb from the event, the pain is no longer there.  It’s now replaced with love. Everyone has to see it while its new, they’re curious and share your excitement on many levels.

Once you bring this baby home, it’s a part of you, its yours forever. No matter if it’s a success or flop socially, it is still yours.  You brag it up even if isn’t cooperating. Money is dumped into it hoping that someday it’ll be self sufficient.  For the rest of your life, you have to do everything you can to nurture it and help it grow. You must veer it in the right direction. You will never live it down, and you want nothing but health and success for it’s lifespan.  It’s easy to become to attached, and it’s also easy to get distracted from it at times.  There is nothing more heart wrenching then the realization that you haven’t been paying enough attention to your baby.  Everyone does it, or at least feel like they’ve done it whether they actually have or not.  Especially if you go on vacation.

As your baby gets older, there will people who like it and people who don’t.  Some days it will come home crying after getting negative comments and some days it will storm through the door aglow, it will beam and shout with joy about how popular it was that day.  You love it either way, because its yours.

And that my friends is how writing books is so much like having babies.