Myths about the Writer's Life AND Giveaway

by Elizabeth Goddard

Elizabeth Goddard

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A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a close writing friend about the good old days when we used to be able to chat every day. We met online through a writing group and we enjoyed daily, virtual chats. It was like we were neighbors talking over the fence, or maybe coworkers who had cubicles next to each other. We attended the same conference once a year and roomed together. We traded chapters for critique and our friendship grew to be about much more than writing. This could be a blog post about networking and writing friends for life! But I’ll save that for another post.


Let’s go back to the good old days. You see, these days, we are both multi-published writers without any hope of talking every day. It’s all we can do to find time for a quick chat every couple of weeks, or sometimes even months.


When I dreamed of the day that I would become a published author, I had a few misconceptions. I’ve written thirty plus novels, and over the years, I’ve learned that the writing life is nothing like what I imagined it would be.


I’ve listed a few “myths” below, including what the general population might believe about writers, and a few truths are mixed in.



1.) Novelists are wealthy and the writing life is glamourous. In general, writers are not wealthy and the writing life is not glamorous. A movie deal is not just waiting around the corner.



2.) Writers can make a living. Yes and no. It depends on what is meant by “a living.” Most writers must keep their day jobs.



3.) The writing life is easy. Writers get to work from home. Working from home means you have to actually, um . . . work. That can be hard when others think you can also babysit or mow the lawn while writing. Add to that, writing is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The hardest job I’ve ever had. Producing a good book can be an agonizing process, then you have to do it again. And again.



4.) Writers are introverts. Some are. Some aren’t. I am. Regardless, writers still have to market their work as if they were extroverts.



5.) Quiet and solitude. Writers work in a quiet office overlooking a peaceful scene. A meadow filled with flowers. A national forest. A mountain landscape. Writers take long, daily walks on a beach. I would love even one thing listed and somehow imagined by the time I had made it to this place on my writing journey, I would have daily access to that view or that special place. Regardless, I must still write my stories in the midst of chaos with no getaway beach to stroll.



6.) Writers must stir the muse and inspiration. Sometimes an idea or a scene I’m working on inspires me. But mostly I write without the muse.



7.) Speaking of muse, let’s talk about writer’s block. It’s a thing. Writer’s block is only a “thing” if you’re relying on the muse to get you writing. Professional writers can’t afford to get stuck. There are ways to get the writing going. Just start typing.



8.) Burnout is a thing. Yes, burnout is definitely a thing. But that doesn’t mean I can stop writing. Deadlines are looming. 

 

9.) Good writers are born. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. But even good writers have to work their backsides off to get anywhere in the writing world, and then sometimes, even that isn’t enough.



10.) Writers are doing what they love. Most people who are writing novels write because they must. It’s a love-hate relationship. I love writing and the creativity that allows me to come up with stories, but it’s hard, hard work and can be an excruciating process.



11.) Everything worthwhile requires sacrifice. Even writing. This is truth. At the end of the process—when I’ve turned my book into my editor on time, I look back at the life moments I’ve missed, and the conversations I could have had with my friend, but I didn’t have time.

We were both writing.

Shannon McNear and Elizabeth Goddard at the RITA AWARDS Ceremony  in Austin, Texas (2014! 

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Elizabeth Goddard is the bestselling author of more than 30 books, including the Carol Award-winning The Camera Never Lies. Her Mountain Cove series books have been finalists in the Daphne Du Maurier Awards and the Carol Awards. Goddard is a seventh generation Texan and can be found online at www.elizabethgoddard.com.