Giving Birth vs. Publishing a Novel: A Brief Comparison

“Writing a novel is like childbirth: once you realize how awful it really is, you never want to do it again.” –Sarah Dessen

More revisions, you say?

Each stage of the publishing process is completely new to me. Sure, I’ve read tons about it, including other writers’ stories, but it’s kinda like childbirth: read all you want, but your experience will be uniquely yours. Obviously I’m not the first to think this way. There’s a cute article on the Dead Darlings site that explores this topic.

But I made a chart!

Enjoy this side-by-side comparison that I absolutely did not put together on company time.

In both cases you are creating a living, breathing thing. And in order to do that, you have to give a big piece of yourself. You toil, and suffer, and hurt, and rejoice, and then many of us do it all over again, until we finally feel done (or drop dead of exhaustion).

Either way, it’s worth it.