Being a Writer - What to Expect

By Buffy Greentree


Writing and being a writer are two different things. Being a writer is completely different from being obliged to write. Generally, everyone needs to write. A writer is someone who lives a lifestyle that is most conducive to writing. Someone who wants to build up their personal identity and decision-making structure around the fact that they prioritize writing. Everyone wants to be something. So choosing to become a writer is a big, adventurous step but choose it anyway.

However, it is proper to mention that there are some drawbacks to being a writer. Oh, not the ones everyone is always telling you about: it's hard work, very few people make it, you can't make a living, etc. - those are just foolish.

Now, new content is being created and posted online every minute. Business people are eager to hire great writers to optimize their websites. More people are reading, devouring books, with whole new markets opening up regularly. Almost every industry needs technical writers, and copywriters are sought after. The need for writers has increased immensely in our time. Writing is definitely hard work but so is anything worth achieving. And yes, you might need to broaden your mind to less traditional concepts of writing, and you may not write the next great best-selling novel first time around, but that is no excuse to give up.

These drawbacks are not meant to discourage you. These issues are not even the ones you should be focusing on. There is a need to point out considerations that you need to be aware of when you make the decision to become not just someone who writes, but a writer.

First of all, in calling yourself a writer, people expect you not only to write, but also to have been published in a medium they know, which I think is vastly unfair. Still, this is the way the world is, and people will look at you askew when you have nothing to show them yet. Therefore, it is highly recommended you get a blog up and running as soon as possible, so you can point people there as evidence of your writing. This will save a lot of embarrassment at Christmas parties, and will allow you to start building up your readership.

Try to consider yourself spending a good portion of the day staring at a screen and another good portion staring off into space. When you do, you will realize that writing is a rather lonely business. However, as the majority of people appear to do this at desk jobs anyway, and don't have the novels to justify it, so don't let this worry you. Terry Pratchett says, 'writing is the most fun you can have by yourself.' Which is true, if you let it.

While being lonely is a matter of choice, becoming a bit strange is more difficult to avoid. This happens for a number of reasons. The most immediate effects come from taking on too much of your characters or bubbling over with strange facts. However, if you spend eight hours writing in the mindset of an evil genius, it can hardly be surprising that you might come down to dinner with just a slight facial tic and a tendency towards manic laughter. Embrace it. It makes your writing a lot more interesting, and your life.

Sometimes you realize that you are beginning to view events in terms of descriptions. I have, on occasion, caught myself viewing people on the bus in terms of how I would describe their entrance into one of my books. 'The first thing you noticed about Mrs. Jones was her chin. The second was her next chin, and the third was the chin that rolled into her bust, neatly dispensing with the issue of a neck.' The problem with this situation is when you realize that you have been speaking these lines aloud. Leave the bus at the next stop when this happens.

Trying to conceal that you are sizing everyone up is difficult, because, in fact, you are. Do they come up to scratch? Could they make a reasonable character in your book, or would they just be filler, killed off in the second chapter? These are important questions. Much more important than insipid questions such as 'how do you do?' That is not helpful at all.

Lastly, let's not forget the physical issues with writing. If writers don't exercise care, they either become on the large side, or slip into a wraith-like figure. This depends on how you have connected eating with your writing.

On the same physical lines, there are the consequences of sitting down all day. Without a conscious effort to include exercise in your day, it is possible to move no further than to the kettle and back for days on end. If you start finding the kettle hard to lift, it might be time to do a series of gym reviews for your blog.

When it comes to relationships, people say writers do not have time. But that is unfair. There are writers who are divorced or single. But there are also patient spouses who look after their writing partners.

Family issues are also to be considered. They would like you to keep your day job but they also like to have one member of the family who is a writer, as it means someone at least is always free to do whatever they need whenever they want. There is a certain logic that they miss. Relatives who would never think of asking you to take a day off from your day job to help them move, will decide that since you were sitting around at home doing nothing anyway, surely you can write some other time? Children can also be quite demanding, and partners only have a right to complain if you started writing after you got together. A writer should be able to confront these issues by himself.

It can be very helpful if you have a circle of friends who are also writers. Although, it can be very dull when all they want to talk about is their own book while you are also thinking of your own.

However, these are the sacrifices you must make if you decide to be both a writer, and still appear even slightly normal.




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