Do you ever grumble about writing?
You know, your laptop is getting older. It's too heavy. It's too slow. You have to share the desktop with the hubby or the kids. Maybe you prefer to use longhand and your pencil sharpener broke -- and your pen leaked all over your notepad.
Or maybe you're stuck. You realize that your current scene is missing something, it's falling flat. You haven't reached your self-imposed word count today. Maybe you haven't written anything in days. Or weeks. Months?
Maybe you have a full-time job. I did for the first three years I was writing. I spent my days with high school students and my nights with Norwegian men from centuries past. It wasn't easy, but I kept at it. I even took a couple sick days off from my job to write. Don't tell my principal.
In the midst of all this, have you thought about how lucky you are?
First, and most obviously, you live and write in the United States of America. That means you are free to write anything you want. Any genre. Any content. Any time.
Second, you have an entire world of information at your fingertips. Try to think of one piece of information, crucial to your story, that you can't find online. Back in the "old days" (ca. 1995 or earlier) research meant trips to the library and hoping, praying, that they had the book you needed.
Third, your publishing options have exploded. Traditional print? Traditional eBooks? Indy-published print? Indy e-published? You have control. You can walk simultaneous and parallel paths.
I think there are times when we, as writers, become so focused on our task that we forget how blessed we are to be doing what we do. We create worlds. We populate them with dashing men, beautiful women, and nasty villains of both genders. We laugh with them, we cry with them. We love with them.
And when all seems lost, the moment is as black as we can make it, and there is no way out of this if something doesn't change -- it does. We get to give these characters, dear friends whom we love, their happily ever after. Boo-yah!
All is right in their world, and we are lifted up by the experience. Our view of the world we actually do live in softens. If unicorns existed, one would be grazing peacefully in our back yard at that moment. Under a rainbow.
What's better than that?
12 comments:
First, Thank you Kris for switching with Sarah and me so we could joint post on the 1st.
Second, It was great seeing you at Desert Dreams. Your workshop was fantastic and your book "Becoming an Authorpreneur" is amazing!!!
And last, Great Post - we are lucky to be living in this day and age. I remember Nora Roberts speech at RWA Nationals in San Francisco talking about her first books were typed on a manuel typewriter. I remember writing reports in those days and the pain and agony of making any changes or correcting a spelling error!
I'm looking into my backyard - no unicorn or rainbow yet but there is sunshine (and living in the Pacific Northwest that is a magical event)!
I am with you 100%, Kris! We should celebrate the freedom to write every single day. In my bio, I say that I write because I can't help it, and it's more fun than most of the alternatives. This is so true, in spite of the hard parts.
Heck, if I want to, I can play with that unicorn and that rainbow today, in my story.:)
It doesn't get much better than that Kris!
Thanks, all! Yes, Judith, it was great to see you again! :)
As authors we live in an enclosed world at times and we forget how blessed we are to be able to do what we do!
Absolutely nothing is better than that except maybe a hug from someone you love. You are right - we do tend to forget how lucky we are. Thanks for the reminder Kris.
I was learning how to download stories into my Kindle today from DB and your story was the first one I purchased. I've been wanting to read it for a long time and cannot wait now that I have it at my fingertips. :)
Unicorn, rainbow, and glitter! :-) I do, indeed, feel richly blessed. I couldn't have written without my computer. I wasn't able to go back to college until I had a computer. I have too much trouble organizing my thoughts on paper. On the computer, I cut and paste and shuffle, and change it all back, if I don't like how it's turning out. Thanks for the reminder.
And, as readers, we have the freedom to read whatever we want.
And, as readers, we have the freedom to read whatever we want.
Kris
Once again, you hit it on the nose. Still looking for that unicorn here in Tucson. I know he's around. I didn't sell my first book until after we moved here. :)
Kris this post came at a perfect time.
What’s that old expression? Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration?
Thank you for the reminder to keep at it.
There is nothing better, Kris! Fun post!
Thanks for the reminder, Kris. we are indeed blessed. Couldn't have said it better myself.
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