Most of you know Any Shiny Thing as a blog about positive aging, and that’s 90% true. But there’s more.
I’m also an author, so I occasionally bore non-writers with posts about that. The other day, my friend Bob Hurlbert told me he shares those posts with his writing group, and that gave me an idea.
Every Tuesday, I’ll post something about the writing life. It might be a tip, a bit of wisdom, a reminder, a strategy, a triumph, or an admission of failure. I want to share with you, and I hope you’ll reciprocate.
What works for you, and what doesn’t? What are you learning? How do you keep up with everything? Any tips or tools to share? Spill it, sisters and brothers.
Because the writing life ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. (What the heck does that mean, anyway? Is it from a time when people gathered nuts, maybe? And then they cracked them and found, I don’t know, ants? Mold? But I digress.)
All my life, I dreamed of being a writer. I thought I would spend lovely days writing, and when my books were done, I’d bask in the adoration and awards. Not to mention significant royalties.
Not mine, shockingly.
As time passed, and I got the true picture of what I’d have to do to achieve success, I got so depressed I thought I might give up. But that would have been like giving up breathing, so now I’m stuck.
Here, off the top of my head, are some of the responsibilities of a professional writer.
- You make plans, setting goals and objectives.
- You budget time and money.
- You hire contractors (e.g. web designers, editors, cover designers, formatters, etc.)
- You write and deliver speeches, and/or teach workshops and/or classes.
- You perform marketing and publicity tasks.
- You belong to professional organizations, attend meetings, and perhaps do volunteer work.
- You build networks of friends and partners.
- You stay up-to-date through constant learning.
Besides the fun stuff above, you must take care of body and mind. To that end, I try to maintain a healthy work/life balance, which means family, love, exercise, and occasionally losing myself in a movie or art gallery.
Ha ha.
But the operative word is try. And right along with that is fail. For example, this will publish Tuesday morning, just as I begin a four-day babysitting gig. (“Family.”) So you might not hear from me until Saturday.
In his famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl said humans are happiest when aiming for some kind of goal or purpose. It might be as simple as not overeating, or as big as world peace. My goal is to create a life in balance, one that supports the writing life. I get frustrated, but I enjoy the struggle.
So for the next few months, until I run out of ideas or you beg me to stop, I’ll post another installment of The Writing Life each Tuesday. Let me hear from you.
And we’ll continue to discuss positive, powerful aging every Friday.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to pack tomorrow’s lunch.
This sentence sounds like me… As time passed, and I got the true picture of what I’d have to do to achieve success, I got so depressed I thought I might give up.”
I didn’t even know I could write until late in my life…a few years ago. Although I have enjoyed the actual writing, I don’t like the other stuff. I am not good at the other stuff, ie. marketing and the business side of it. And I don’t have the money to pay to have all the other stuff done for me.
Sadly I am having to get paying jobs to keep body and soul together. Maybe some day that will change and I can live my dream life for the rest of my life 🙂 I can dream, right?
Lynn – You are outstanding. Every post of yours has at least one significant point for the individual reader to relate to. In this one, there are several valid points: “What to endure as a writer.” How true. Good for you to devote one weekday’s posts to writing. That will expand your base of followers.
Thanks for the support, Bob. I’m looking forward to it.
I enjoyed today’s post and could definitely relate. However, I did notice one item you left off your bulleted list: You write books!
Keep it up (and enjoy babysitting, too).
Amen, Lynne! I couldn’t have summed it up any better.
Just the fact that you’re able to keep TWO blogs going every week beside other social media and your own writing projects is incredible, and a testament to your love of the craft.
Shoulder on, sista!
Thanks Jim! I hope you will share your considerable and always interesting writer / author experiences with us!
I got a two star the other day and it said she didn’t think people could cry in Heaven. I wanted to comment and ask if she realized it was fiction but bit my tongue and let it go. Oh, well. Such is our lives now.
I like this because I also am on that path. Have also had the dreams of my book being on a best- seller list etc. This whole writing business is so different than I had thought it would be. I doubt I will ever even break even, but that is in terms of money. The joy I feel when someone likes it or gives me a good review is priceless. Of course, there are the not so good ones and I have so wanted to rip them off my wall on Amazon but even those remind me that someone actually read what I wrote! Your new blog offers encouragement to all Indie authors because we know the struggle. And it is so good to know we are not alone. Keep it up.
Great way to look at it Judy. Rejection is just a part of the process. And by the way? A lady gave me one star on Amazon and said it was the best book she had ever read. Like she couldn’t understand the difference between one star and five stars. Clearly, ratings aren’t everything!