Juggling and not very well

Used to, when I would pick up a Harlequin novel, before I ever dreamed of being published, I imagined the author's life as serene and calm. She would have an organized office. She would write during the day, and at night have supper on the table for her loving family. She would never suffer from writer's block. She was never frantic, at least not in my dreams.

In my life, at least lately, it's not like that at all. I live in the equivalent of an ant bed. 

I think most writers are sort of like this. Writing is hardly ever a full-time job. Most of the writers that I know have day jobs and families and all the chaos that comes with both. They write in fits and snatches. They battle deadlines. They suffer from the writer's block that comes from having a busy mind.

Frequently, my husband will ask why I bother. I guess that's a sign I whine much!

But on the face of it, it makes sense to ask this. If it is so time-consuming, if it is so hard, if I have a full playe already, what's the pay-off?

Simple. My characters won't shut up. They nag at me. They harangue me. They keep me awake at night. I'd go stark raving crazy if I couldn't write.

Yes, it's hard. There are not enough hours in the day or the night. But I love it. I love falling in love with my hero every single time. I love rooting for my heroine and hoping that she will become a stronger woman at the end of the novel  than when she starts out. 

That's why I write. That's why all writers write.

Comments

  1. Hi, Cynthia. Yes, that's it exactly. It's like being able to put ourselves in all the situations we create for our heroes and heroines, and watch them battle to a resolution. Every time they get knocked down and fight their back again, so do we. We get stronger with every book. That's the payoff!

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  2. Cynthia, you nailed it. People are so right when they say a writer can't not write.

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  3. Definitely agree!! I read a quote once that said-'If you don't have to write-don't!' I threaten to quit writing about every twenty seven seconds during deadline lol, but like the rest of you-it's either be a writer or a crazy person with a split personality disorder while I live out the characters in my mind lol:)

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  4. All I can say to that is, "Amen." Why do these characters shout at us to have their stories told? I head the idea for my latest WIP, and it's bugged me to death till I put fingers to keys.

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  5. I think it's a vocation, not a job. You're compelled and impelled to write.

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