Blog Chain - Worth the Hassle

This round of the ol' chain was started by our awesome Eric, who wants to know:


What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a writer? What is your greatest reward from writing?

Fabulous question. There are a lot of things about being a writer that are hard. Juggling writing with kids and family and jobs, dodging queries, revisions, edits, revisions, bleeding-red critiques, more revisions, W.A.I.T.I.N.G., querying, submitting, pressure, and all that other wonderful stuff that comes with the territory.

But for me, the hardest part is actually FINISHING.

I'm great at ideas. Great at starting a project. This is why I have 4 or 5 novels with three or four chapters a piece, two finished novels in various stages of revisions (for the 100th time), two half written non-fiction proposals (one of those accompanying a half written NF book), a barely begun novel in verse, and half a dozen or so picture books.

Christine always tells me I'm spinning. LOL I just have a really hard time sitting down and focusing on one project long enough to finish it. I really don't know why this is. I'll think about my WIP all day long, have tons of ideas I want to implement, scenes shooting through my head that I can't wait to get down...but when I go to actually work on all that, I generally pull up my files and then sit and think....and then check my email....and then peek at Facebook real quick....and then get distracted by my kids or husband or that cute movie on HBO I really wanted to see. Something always comes up.

It's kind of like exercise. I really want to do it. I can visualize the incredible end result if I keep it up. I enjoy it while I'm doing it and feel spectacular when I'm done. It's just getting myself to apply butt to chair and fingers to keys that sometimes evades me.

I think this is why I work so well under a deadline :) I'm literally FORCED to work. I enjoy every second, don't get me wrong. But yeah, I do better with the cattle prod approach :)

My greatest reward? Well, I won't lie - getting a agent and selling my book were pretty awesome rewards. Seeing it on a book shelf will be even more cool, I'm sure. But really, the thing I love more than anything is sending someone something I wrote and having them say, "OMG! I LOVE this! Send me more!" or "I am loving this so much I stayed up until 1am. I couldn't put it down!" or "Hurry up and finish! I can't wait to find out what happens, you're killing me!" or "My professor gave me an A on my paper and said it was the best paper she'd read all year!"

Hands down, nothing beats that. There is nothing more rewarding for me than experiencing the pleasure other people find in reading my work or knowing that I helped someone pass their class or write an awesome paper. Absolutely nothing tops that for me.

How about you? What do you find difficult about being a writer? Anyone out there want to challenge me for the Procrastination Championship? I betcha I'd win :D What do you love about being a writer? What keeps you on this crazy roller coaster?

Don't forget to go back and see what Laura had to say about being a writer and stop by Shaun's tomorrow to see what he both loves and struggles with :)

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Blog Chain - Worth the Hassle

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