I put my head in my hands. I’m overwhelmed. My 90,000 word historical novel is a mess. I’ll probably have to rewrite 45,000 words of it. I don’t know how I’ll ever get this book to be great.
Writing a novel is like playing Whack-a-Mole. You hit one problem and another one pops up. Except there’s no timer. The writing game isn’t done until you say it’s done. Or you quit.
What keeps me going are other women. Women friends who have written novels. I also get inspiration from those in the past. At a time when women didn’t write books, Jane Austen self-published her own work. Amelia Earhart faced incredible risks to do what she loved.
I can’t imagine I’d be a writer without these women looming large in my mind.
Only about 13-percent of the figures in history textbooks are women. “You can’t be what you can’t see” is from a teacher surveyed by the New-York Historical Society. Like others, he’s struggled to help his female students learn the importance of women’s contributions.
The Historical Society is not only developing teaching units for middle and high school teachers, but it recently opened a new Center for Women’s History to deepen our understanding of women’s contributions.
I wouldn’t be who I am today without other women. Let’s see more of what we can be.