A writer should write.
No, wait…that’s the trusty US Postal Service creed, but the same could be said of writers. Add, of course, nor day job, nor needy spouses or sick children, nor broken bones, nor the lure of American Idol or Days of our Lives, nor…
Well, you get the picture.
I’ve been a writer all my life, from childhood scribbles to high school, angst-filled poems, but it wasn’t until I felt the joy of typing THE END (at the conclusion of a fan fiction for Days of our Lives that ran 375,000 words and took a year to write) did I get serious about being a published author. And that was only on a dare from my husband to write something I could actually sell.
“But I have a full time job,” I said.
“I’ve got you and our child to take care of,” I added.
“I belong to Committee This and serve as President of That,” I whined.
“I don’t have time,” I caved.
He gently pointed out the many nights I stayed up long after my bedtime typing furiously about characters that belonged to someone else (NBC), how I would wake up early to check the internet for responses to my latest postings, and that I would talk about these television-based characters as if they were real people.
“Don’t you have any other voices running around in my head?” he asked.
You have no idea.
So I got serious. I wrote, I took online classes, I wrote, I joined the Romance Writers of America, I wrote, I bought books on craft, books on technique and romance novels by the truckload. (research, you know!) I fought the battle (still ongoing) with my worst fault, laziness, and I did it. I typed THE END on my own story and reading the email telling me Samhain Publishing wanted REILLY’S PROMISE was a dream come true.
And I continue to write. I also mix in marketing, maintaining my website, networking and working with my editor because those are all part of being a published author.
I still battle the pull of guilty pleasures like curling up with a romance novel, a classic love story movie (Pride & Prejudice anyone?) or my favorite daytime drama. And everyday life has a way of jumping up in your face too. Whether it’s my day job extending long past the usual eight hours, my teenager playing catch with my car keys as a way of expressing her need to practice her driving skills or the news a most beloved aunt who was told last month she is facing the battle of a lifetime against cancer…I still write.
Oh, and that first picture is my office. As you can tell from all the stuff laying around I don’t get much done there.
Below is my ‘real’ office…
I’m sorry to hear about your aunt. I can relate. Now I know why in so many movies the writer has a cabin in the woods that few people know about.
I hate writing, but I love having written. ~ Dorothy Parker
I’m facing that question of time and energy myself as I just lost thirty hours of my week to other things for other people. But it’s like a Nike ad, regardless of the obstacles, you just do it. You just might have to do it slower.
I’d still like my cabin by the lake, writer-fortress-of-solitude, but for now the real world will have to be enough.
I’m sorry to hear about your aunt and pray that your family finds strength through it.
~X
“I write.”
I for one, am very glad that you do
And I know I’m not alone.