As many of you know, I belong to a CSA. This CSA has a U-pick raspberry patch. After a not-so-productive season of sparse shares, getting the notice that the raspberries were ripe and ready for picking this week was like winning the produce lottery. Thoughts of the soft, ripe berries that I’ll be adding to my yogurt or cereal each morning for the next few days crept into my mind all day. And when the time came, nothing could stop me from filling my pint container with those purple-red treasures.

Picking raspberries isn’t all fun and games, though. Digging through those thorny bushes for the perfectly ripe ones takes a lot of effort. As I pulled back leaves and maneuvered around bees, I realized that raspberry picking is a lot like writing.

You have to be willing to dig deep into the bushes. Like good ideas and interesting stories, the best berries are usually not the easiest to find. They hide under leaves, close to the ground and deep in the center of the thorny bushes. Especially if you get to the patch later than the rest of your group. Sometimes the best stories come from asking that tough question, doing that difficult research or seeking out the perfect source. Getting past the surface of a subject and digging into its center, beyond it’s protective defenses, will bring life to a dull story.

You can’t let the thorns or the bees deter you from your mission. Think of the thorns as rejection and the bees as those voices–usually in your own head–that don’t believe in your dreams or talents. If you let the thorns and bees keep you from the good berries (your words, stories, creative thoughts) in the center of the bush, you’ll never have enough for a pie (book, speech, essay, project). Remember, the bees rarely sting, they’re just loud and obnoxious. As for the thorns, they’re meant to protect the bush and its products. Practice your technique and you’ll be able to avoid them more and more often.

Filling your container takes hard work and you may have to sweat a little. Raspberries ripen in the peak of the summer heat and it takes time and concentrated effort to pick enough for anything more than a little snack. The same is true for writing. If you’re not willing to put in the time, to work diligently through exhaustion, writers block, and rejection, you’ll never finish that book, complete that poetry collection, or write for that magazine. To mix my metaphor, keep writing and you’ll have your pie in no time.

The product of your labors is more than worth your efforts. That pie, piping hot, straight from the oven, is worth every moment of picking, every drop of sweat, every scratch and sting. And like that pie, the products of your writing work will be sweet and rewarding. Keep your goals in mind and the work of picking won’t seem so bad.