Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

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Pounding the Rock

7 Comments

For several days now I’ve ended my writing sessions with little to show. Hours have left me with only a handful of measly words. So when on Wednesday morning I only had half an hour to devote to writing, I was surprised how quickly I got in the groove. Were they great words? Probably not, but they brought me straight into the world of the story and were almost double what I had produced in the days before.

I told my husband about this while I was fixing dinner. “You’re pounding the rock,” he said. He told me this was a football metaphor about showing up and doing the hard work: eventually that rock will break.

Oh, football. I don’t like you, I don’t get you, and I rather be thinking about anything else. But my goodness, I love this concept! So thank you, football, for this nugget of truth, this gem of wisdom! This one’s worth holding onto.

Here’s the original quote. It’s called the Stonecutter’s Credo:

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
-Jacob Riis

Keep at it, writing friends. Keep pounding that rock. Eventually the hard work will pay off.

 

 

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Filed Under: encouragement, the writing life

Comments

  1. Sarah M says

    September 29, 2017 at 10:17 am

    That’s a great quote!

    Reply
    • Caroline says

      September 29, 2017 at 11:01 am

      Agreed!

      Reply
  2. Vijaya says

    September 29, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    Great quote and so very true. I’m so glad you made discernable headway.

    Reply
    • Caroline says

      September 30, 2017 at 6:38 am

      Thank you, Vijaya. How is your writing?

      Reply
      • Vijaya says

        October 3, 2017 at 2:37 pm

        I’m finally settling into a good routine. Feeling very thankful for this writing life.

        Reply
  3. Arjay Clark says

    September 29, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    I am not a writer. I do not have the skills or talent that authors have to create stories, characters and entire new worlds. I am a reader. A life long and voracious reader. And articles and blogs such as this that gives me glimpses into what authors go through to create the products that I crave and anticipate- books…. I am forever humbled by the hard work of authors.

    Caroline, whether you are writing historical novels, poetry or nature stories…. your creativity will come through even with once in awhile periods where you do not think you are moving forward you are. And let me assure you that your readers all over the world greatly appreciate your efforts.

    Reply
    • Caroline says

      September 30, 2017 at 6:39 am

      Thank you, Arjay. I appreciate you!

      Reply

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