The Insecure Writer’s Support Group meets (online) on the first Wednesday of every month. To join the group yourself (or just check out the impressive list of blogs in the group) click on over and check it out.
Each month, the IWSG has co-hosts supporting our meet up. For November, we owe our thank you clicks to Jennifer Lane, Jenni Enzor, Renee Scattergood, Rebecca Douglass, Lynn Bradshaw, and Melissa Maygrove!
And there’s also a monthly question to get the creativity started. This month is a fun one! When you began writing, what did you imagine your life as a writer would be like? Were you right, or has this experience presented you with some surprises along the way?
And I had some vague, uninformed thoughts about what writer life would be like. An endless well of creativity and a cooperative muse were my original (COMPLETELY WRONG) ideas. What is writer life actually like? Let me explain, with GIFs galore.
What I thought it would be like:
Writing retreats full of discourse, stimulating discussions, plotting, and lots of other authors.
What it’s actually like:
#You’reTooPoor #SillyAuthor #RetreatsAreForBestSellers
What I thought it would be like:
Ideas lining up, falling neatly into their places, everything is flowing and glorious and ticking along like pure, perfect, writing clockwork.
What it’s actually like:
EVER HEARD OF SLEEPING, Ideas? GIVE ME A BREAK.
What I thought it would be like:
Editing, DONE. Polishing? This baby is shining. Revision number three is going SO WELL.
What it’s actually like:
This was such a great idea to edit this bit here—DAMN IT now I have to re-write every part with foreshadowing and change the spelling for one noun hidden throughout 60,000 words.
What I thought it would be like:
Blissful hours spent writing.
What it’s actually like:
Why am I on Canva again? How did Pinterest boards take up three hours? wHaT just happened?
What I thought it would be like:
Writing, writing, writing, more writing, lots of writing, all the words!
What it’s actually like:
Re-writing my goddamn author bio for the 50th time.
What I thought it would be like:
The house will just somehow keep itself clean? I dunno, somehow I thought there would be time for writing and cleaning and cooking and parenting and writing.
What it’s actually like:
This mess keeps multiplying although I am sitting quietly at my computer desk without cleaning, how unfair, I did NOT authorize this method.
What I thought it would be like:
Writing the story.
What it’s actually like:
Back on thesaurus.com looking up synonyms for “moist” for the 800th time
8 comments
You and me both sister. Gotta love it. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Gotta! It’s laugh or cry, and I chose the sarcasm, gifs, and laughter.
That was funny! And bonus points for using a Princess Bride clip.
The Princess Bride remains appropriate for EVERY occasion.
I really like all the graphics you used in this post. I think many of us envisioned an easier life as a writer than it really is. I had no idea that most authors don’t earn out their advance, if they’re lucky enough to get published.
I suppose it’s lucky I decided to go the indie author route, so I don’t even have any advance to earn out? Instead I paid everything upfront . . . and have not earned that amount back yet anyway.
Supershed, like a Room of One’s Own ? Pronoun’s a give away…
Anybody who’d write ‘ One’s Own’ would assume staff too, 24/7
Including a secretary ?
Kids ? This writerb would need a nanny too….
All in all it’s a profession which doesn’t make us much money. We’re in this for the love of story.