September #IWSG: Don't Quit

Come join Alex J. Cavanaugh and the Insecure Writer's Support Group. We discuss our fears, insecurities, ups and downs of the writing process and post the first Wednesday of every month! http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/the-insecure-writers-support-group.html

Roller coasters. We've all been on them unless you aren't human. When I was fifteen, I landed my first job at a Six Flags where I worked in food service. It sucked, but it was pretty cool because one day I met Tone Loc. (80s rap star) Before his concert, he ordered two foot long hot dogs and handed me a one hundred dollar bill. In his gravely voice, he told me to keep the change. But sadly, we weren't allowed to keep the change.

I've been to many a Six Flags, Great America, and amusement parks over the years, but there's one coaster in the Wisconsin Dells at Mount Olympus that would make Rick Riordan proud. Hades. Yes, they don't call it Hades for nothing. Welcome to the world's first upside-down, underground wooden roller coaster. One minute you are high in the sky, enjoying the ascent overlooking the vast, lush, rolling hillsides along the Wisconsin River. The next moment you are plummeting in a death drop, feeling your spine ripped from your body. Just when you think it can't get any worse (and you're hoping the big guy in front of you doesn't lose his lunch), you plunge into complete darkness, racing along at 70-freaking-miles per hour as the the ride shoots through the parking lot under tons of cement. You pray none of the bolts are loose, because derailing from a freak coaster accident in broad daylight is one thing. Cashing in complete darkness would be the end of me, literally.

Welcome to Hades

Okay, I give you my comparison between coasters and a writer's life. One day you are up soaring above the sweet clouds taking a sweet look at the sweet horizon before you. The writing life is good. The next scene, you on a downward spiral of fear and rejection, realizing your spine has been ripped from your body and you will never get out alive. Everyone goes through the good, the bad, and the ugly as a writer. Some days will be better than others and some days you will feel like quitting and getting a job at Six Flags selling hot dogs. Don't quit.You're almost there.