Be Careful What You Wish For

Sorry I'm late on the post, but it's a hazard of writing! How so? you ask.

Well, before I was contracted, I had all sorts of time. Time to blog, time to write, time to clean...you get the idea. Writing was sort of a hobby, one that I loved. Not that I don't still love writing, but it certainly isn't a hobby any longer. 

No, once you become contracted, writing becomes a job. Most of the time when readers think of authors, the picture below is what comes to mind.

Signing books, speaking at different functions, teaching classes on writing, and I've certainly done all of those things. 

But most of my time is spent behind my computer. Six, eight, maybe ten hours a day. Mostly eight, though. 

Since 2013, I've written twelve books and three novellas, plus a ton of blog posts. Those twelve books represent over a million words. Can you believe that writing is all I've done since 2013?

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but I don't think many writers who yearned to be published realize how much work goes into this writing gig.  

Or how little respect others have for your time. Since I work from home, it's automatically assumed I can drop my writing and do whatever: go out to lunch, attend a meeting in the middle of the day, entertain drop-in company, answer the phone--no one understands when I turn my phone off, but it takes at least thirty minutes to get back into a story when I'm interrupted. 

I do hope you don't think I'm whining, because I'm not, just stating facts as any writer will tell you. I would be writing even if my publisher didn't pay me. Let me rephrase that. I love writing even when the words are like pulling up dandelions. (ever tried that--those suckers don't let go of the ground). I have friends who question my sanity. They can't understand why I would sit for eight hours every day when I don't have to. 

They don't understand that I DO have to. Writing is in my blood, and I'd rather be writing than doing anything else, even lazing on a beach in Hawaii.

So, just in case you're one of those people who yearn to write and get published, go for it! But count the cost. There's always a cost to doing what you love. 

Comments? What do you want to do more than anything in the world? Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a drawing for a copy of one of my books--your choice.