By Jack Eason - Have We Had Help
How many times have you been confronted by the above question during your lifetime? I was reading an article posted by Jay Lake What It’s Like Being A Writer on this very subject earlier today in relation to those of us who are writers.
Whenever you answer by telling the usually disinterested questioner you are a writer, either their eyes glaze over and move on, or they start asking you inane questions like – ‘Will I have read anything you have written?’ Or they may even say something equally inane like – ‘Oh yes I’ve wanted to write my life story for positively ages, but I can never find the time.’
Writing is quite simply the most demanding of all the disciplines. Reading the products of our efforts is easy and relaxing, writing it is anything but. If you are serious about writing, your days are fraught with countless hours of anxiety. Your every waking moment is given over to how you have constructed that last sentence, or what will happen next in the plot.
Most people still believe that writing is not a ‘proper job’, and that it is the preserve of the idle and indigent. Well writing is certainly not nine to five by any stretch of the imagination. Forget about commuting and spending time in the workplace being paid on a regular basis. ….. continue reading
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4 comments
Doreen Pendgracs says:
August 13, 2011 at 6:57 pm (UTC 0 )
Such a great idea for a site, Derek! I will absolutely become a contributor here, and link back to my own writer’s lifestyle blog.
You are so right that many people think writing is just a hobby, that we “dabble” in it or are “wannabees.” For those of us who DO make our livings from professional freelance writing (and I have done so since 1993), writing is a lifestyle — our chosen lifestyle.
Glad to be your colleague – and friend.
Derek Haines says:
August 13, 2011 at 7:38 pm (UTC 0 )
Thanks Doreen, I look forward to popping your articles on the new site.
Jonny Gibbings says:
August 20, 2011 at 9:13 am (UTC 0 )
I’ve had to get up at 4am, in -7 and work scaffolding for 12 hours, that was harder than writing. I had to do horrible and violent things for a crime syndicate, leaving me with a broken ankle once, a broken jaw another time – stabbed. That was harder than writing.
It’s all perspective isn’t it? When somebody asks “Have I read any of your work” I say “I hope not, else you’d not be talking to me.” I admire clever writers. or those who research to zenith. I like what I do, but I’d not call it hard.
If you get paid to write and complain about it – you got issues!
Lee Walls says:
October 28, 2011 at 10:02 pm (UTC 0 )
I’ve often received remarks from people about my writing. They don’t seem to get it and I’m tired of trying to explain myself to people that could care less, thus I say noting.
Thank you for this article. Everything you wrote is true.