The win came with…more work.
So are you actually ready?
I’d finally gotten a yes. That coveted three letter word that lands so softly on my ears I wish I could hold it there.
At the time, yes felt like an ending – the end of a waiting period, the end of a static chapter, the end of wanting and not getting.
But, actually, the yes was a beginning. The beginning of more work, more discipline, more lessons.
I was ecstatic when I was accepted into the We Need Diverse Books/Penguin Random House Revision Workshop. I was in desperate need of a win and it wasn’t until I exhaled that I realized I was holding my breath.
Little did I know, days later, I’d be on the verge of tears. I’d received hundreds of comments on my manuscript from my mentor, plus a long voice memo and an hour-long phone call about what I needed to fix.
Suddenly, “winning” didn’t feel victorious at all. I had to put my head down. I had to do the work.
In the sixth grade, when I was about to matriculate from my K-6 elementary school to a 7-12 middle and high school, I was first explained the big fish/small pond metaphor. To prepare us for the next phase in our lives, the teachers explained to us that we were big fish in a small pond but were about to graduate into being small fish in a big pond. The big pond would offer us space to grow and become even bigger fish…but we had to start small. And feeling that small after feeling so mighty would be difficult.
What the teachers didn’t tell me was that adulthood came with those kinds of graduations as well. We graduate into a new level and go from a master at the intermediate level to a beginner at the advanced level. After coasting for a while as the big fish in the former phase, we get comfortable.
But a new era is jarring. It comes with…work.
After six grueling months, I came out on the other end confident that I could revise a novel on my own. I’d made it through the cringey, put-your-head-down phase.
And one thing became clear to me: the work IS the way through. You have to love the work. And love process.
That’s half of what we do as writers and artists, right? Trudge through messy first and second drafts – deleting, iterating, completely reworking?
Now, before I ask for the next phase, I do a gut check and ask myself: are you ready for more work?
Because after the bottles are popped and the people go “hoorah,” the next level will reintroduce you to your ego, your bad habits, your relationship to discipline, your strengths, your flaws, and your patterns.
So, I’ll ask you – are you ready?
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Thanks for visiting the Njoy Salon. See you at your next appointment!
xoxo, Neima
instagram: @neima.tenay
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Njoy Salon provides stories to navigate the coming of age and the “coming to” of life. We curate content and timely discussions to be your partner in crime during growth spurts and life transitions. As a Hollywood trained writer/producer and former stylist, I discuss culture and trends from odd angles, ways to learn and relearn ourselves, and resources to navigate culture, art, fashion, entertainment, and literature for when you’re ready to level up.