Comparison...

"Comparison is the thief of joy."  ~Unknown

I had to remind myself of this today, when I read that one of my favorite authors only queried ONE agent before getting signed.  That was 12 years ago, and she's written/published at least that many books since then.  Sure, I was hoping to hear some inspirational story, of her being in the Query Trenches for years, getting discouraged, then finally receiving a well-deserved "Yes!"  A story of triumph where she almost gave up several times, but kept plodding along.  But that's not what her story was.  And that's okay.

It's easy to compare our journey with another writer's journey and feel that we've come up short.  Or even to be jealous of his/her path to success.  But truly, I'm thankful for my own journey.  It's given me time to mature as a writer, to experience life, to hone my craft by studying my genre, to re-write, to get to know other writers, and mostly, to enjoy writing for the sake of writing (and not just for getting published).

Am I anxious to publish my series someday?  Absolutely.  Do I wish/hope/dream I could make a career out of it?  Absolutely!!  But whatever the future holds, it's okay if my journey doesn't match someone else's.  Our journeys are our own.  Maybe we just need to own them.  ;-)