When I tell people that I’m a published author most are impressed. The next thing out of their mouth is “What have you written?” I then watch as the excitement drains from their face when they realize that I’m not E.L James (thank goodness!). We often hear about the “overnight” successes. People that sell a million plus copies of the first book they ever write. What we forget is there are more authors like me out there than E.L. James.
I use the word author instead of writer because anyone can be a writer. Being a writer is easy. Being an author is hard. A writer doesn’t have deadlines to meet and can write whenever the "Muse" hits them. An author forces said Muse, at times at imaginary gunpoint, to meet the daily word count because the manuscript is due by the end of the month. A writer can doesn’t have to explain to his/her family why spending days at a writing convention is not only fun but more important than sitting on the beach with a margarita in hand.
Writing is a hobby. Being an author is a career. Most of the authors I know balance full time day jobs with full time writing careers. Authors must able to multitask. There are deadlines to meet, edits to do, conventions to visit, publishing houses to research, swag to order, blogs to write…not to mention the BEAST that is SOCIAL MEDIA. If you want to sell your books you have to sell yourself.The actual writing is usually done in chunks (i.e. lunch breaks, car pool lanes, sleepless nights and predawn sessions).
Why do it? I can’t answer for anyone but myself. I am an author because it’s my dream. I’m a writer because it’s who I am. For a while I get to be anyone I want, go places that I dream and live in a fantasy world that is often better than reality.
