Borrowed Hours and Unseen Outcomes: The Writer’s Gamble

Borrowed Hours and Unseen Outcomes: The Writer’s Gamble

By Kristi Cruise

There’s a question that haunts almost every writer I know:

Is this really going to be worth it?

Not just the story. Not just the manuscript. But the hundreds of borrowed hours we pour in when the world is sleeping. The ideas that wake us in the middle of the night. The revisions that steal our weekends. The emotional rollercoaster of dreaming big and doubting everything the next minute.

I’m there. Right now. 

Kristi Cruise looking at a bound leather journal.

I’m knee-deep in a book I’ve rewritten more times than I can count. I’ve labored over every sentence, every twist, every clue tucked in between the pages like a treasure for the reader to find. It’s a tough one to write—surreal, genre-bending, and designed for two very different audiences. (Think Barbie movie meets literary time-bending camp chaos.) Not to mention the layers of meaning disguised as humor, the hidden keys, the clues left like breadcrumbs, or cookie crumbs...

I’ve created entire worlds—plural—with characters who breathe and flip and make me laugh out loud when no one’s around. And still, I sometimes sit back and think:

What if no one ever reads this? What if it’s too weird, too different, too much? 

What if no one ever sees this? What if it doesn’t go anywhere?

But here’s what I’m learning: Writing isn’t a transaction. It’s a trust fall.

We don’t write because we know it’ll pay off. We write because something inside us won’t let go until we do.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s the magic. That’s the risk. That’s the heartbeat of being an author—doing the work without a guarantee, because something sacred stirs when we bring a story into the world that didn’t exist before. It's like giving birth is so many ways...

If you’re an aspiring writer, a late-night reviser, or someone sitting on a draft afraid to finish it—just know this:

You’re not alone. 

Keep showing up. Keep writing. Keep believing that these borrowed hours will become something beautiful.

Even if the outcome is still a mystery.

Because sometimes, that’s how the best stories begin.

Want to share your own borrowed hour story? Leave a comment or tag @livlibraries and let’s encourage each other. We’re in this together. 💛

#PowerREADING #LivingLibraries #BorrowedHours #AuthorLife #KeepWriting

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