‘IF’ FOR WRITERS

If you can use your Mac when all about you

Is Starbucks’ noise and din;

If you can get it on the page,

Then you’re on your way to win;

A first draft, then a second,

And edit as you go,

With no adverbs, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’,

Just let the phrasing flow;

If you can visualise-and not be too distracted;

If you can make the plot arc strong,

No editorial triumph nor disaster

With sentence, short or long;

If you can read a bad review,

And not cry nor sob nor weep,

Then throw it in the bin;

For sure, you’ve earned your sleep;

If you can take rejection slips

And make a pile a mountain high;

Then start again on query letters,

With not a single, doleful sigh;

If you can read your novels’ rankings

And accept them,  high or low

With a massive pinch of…