Many of my published friends refer to writing as an expensive hobby.
Writing as a simple hobby, it is one of the cheapest ones you could pick. On top of that I have seen very few agents prefer paper submissions. Most want you to send it electronically now, so that helps if you ever decide to submit a manuscript.
For Fun’s Sake
I realized that writing for me is a hobby.
Maybe you can relate.
Writing as a whole has always been a form of escapism for me; I would be happier with it and get more actual words down if I concentrated on it full-time. I discarded the notion that I would ever publish a single word of my creative writing when I was deep into my first book.
Looking back, I can’t say that place was very constructive.
The desire to publish my work is not equal to the desire to write and express myself. To build a name for myself or even just for the ego trip of seeing my work on the bookstore shelves is not the incentive.
I never figured I’d be able to make a living as a writer, but that did not discourage me, in fact it liberated my creativity. In friends of a dear friend writing is nothing like Castle.
Most fiction writers do not earn a living from their fiction alone.
They supplement their income by giving seminars, teaching, lecturing, or working at a day job. Those who do make a living are a small minority, and their income tends to be small as well. Put it this way — if you work in WalMart or MacDonalds, you are probably going to be better off on a consistent basis than if you write fiction for a living.
The Stephen King level of income is like a leprechaun — you hear about it, but nobody you know has actually seen it.
My creativity seems to be most potent when I have something else to do. To phrase it better, I would say that I am more motivated to write when I am actually not able to write. My brain uses its potential for creative thought, especially when I am not able to sit down any and actually write.
I use my phone for shorthand notes.
I think we call it procrastination.
It’s a productivity technique. One where you get stuff done by procrastinating on something else. I had been holding back on cleaning out the garage it kept going until it was time to do my taxes. What would you know, our garage is now spotless. That sudden cleaning, our spotless garage only really sounded like a good idea when I had more pressing things to take care of. I’ve always felt that it was simply a desire to not be in this situation right now.
I think we call it procrastination.
I do a lot of writing at work.
Writing and my creativity as a whole is more personal for me. I know you may have heard me say it before but it is sort of fantasy, used for escapism.
Every book that I write gets my full attention. They could be published today if I were to pursue it. I don’t. Still I enjoy having the idea of publishable work. Something that I could show to people even if I never actually do that. At least not outside of a small group of friends.