An Inside Look at the Life of a Writer

When I first decided to take my writing seriously and build a career out of it, I envisioned jet setting to metro cities for book signings, with my assistant fetching coffee and lunch because my line of fans was around the block. I pictured myself living out of a suitcase, sitting on panels at conferences, and room service in posh hotels.

Oh yes, I dreamed of yachts and red carpet openings and gala events...

I envisioned fame and fortune. That's what the media tells us, right? Writers are rich and famous and sought after.

It's good to have dreams :) And an active imagination certainly doesn't hurt your work!

In all reality, writing is a really really hard job!

Hour by hour, you are not paid very well compared to many other fields. Considering the time spent creating, outlining, drafting, editing, social media promotion, researching, etc, you truly must have a love for writing to pursue it as a career.

And in the beginning, for a couple years when you start out, you will not be paid. So do not quit your day job! The number one piece of advice I will offer is to keep your job and focus on your writing at night and on weekends. You will need your job to pay for writing necessities like internet and a roof under which to write ;)

At first, I chose certain assignments that interested me. I would peruse the writers job boards until I found a gig that sounded like it fit the type of writer I wanted to be. I quickly learned that is not a good practice. One, it severely limited the amount of jobs I did, and two, this practice does not help you grow as a writer in two ways. Since I was choosing assignments I was comfortable with, I was not stretching myself creatively. When I muzzled my Ego and branched out of my comfort (and knowledge) zone, I learned a lot about many topics. And a lot of that information has proven invaluable in all my future writing.

Also, when you stick to "safe" topics, you limit your exposure and network reach. For instance, once I was hurting for money so I accepted a gig to ghostwrite a pamphlet on a device to solve California's water crisis. This was a project I would have overlooked had I not been suffering financial straights. A scientist hired me to compile his thoughts and research into cohesive sentences, and explain the device he had invented to bring unlimited water to the people.

Because of this assignment, I met his associate- a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and created and researched a groundbreaking discovery. And from this, I met several other well paying clients who provided extremely exciting assignments.

Had I passed that boring (or so I thought at the time of signing the contract) ghostwriting gig up, I never would have acquired the following years assignments which led my career to flourish.

Sometimes, an authors life is lonely. Because of deadlines and client constraints, I sometimes do not leave my house for days. Every spare second is spent in front of my computer, typing away on the keyboard. And sometimes it is so busy that I forget to eat!

I am registered with, and use every social media network. I must use every avenue I can to find work and to promote my work. Different writing demands different social media channels and techniques.

There are a lot of scams. And many ways to waste your money. I think new 18 year olds and wannabe writers are the two most preyed upon demographics! So many scammers dangle fame and fortune in front of you if you join their mailing list. You'll get their proven techniques in a e-book, for free, delivered immediately to your inbox! Cool, right?! So you read the ebook but it just has stuff you already read in the last dozen free ebooks. But lo and behold- their flowery words and sexy promises lead you to their proven steps compiled neatly for you in weekly classes, offered to you today only for the deeply discounted price of only $97- regularly $399. There is a ton of stuff you can spend a small fortune on, and I'm sure each and every one of them can help your career- but you don't need them all! Do your research and check out what other writers said in their reviews of the product before spending your money.

But the bottom line is: just write! The more you write, the better writer you will become!

And don't get me started on the dreaded writers block.

There are two flavors of writers block.

Sometimes you just draw a blank. You cannot form two words together. You can read and research but... nada. Your brain completely zones out and you find yourself staring into space and quickly shut your mouth and wipe the drool from your chin before someone sees you.

You will forget how to write.

You will forget how to think.

Then there's the phenomena where you are positive you have nothing left. You just wrote a phenomenal piece that rocked on so many levels. And you get the feeling like after the last page in a really good book- you will never, ever find a book that good. That book was so good, that nothing will ever compare.

Yea, you get that from time to time with writing, too.

You will also suffer a grand amount of rejection. The writing world is a fiercely competitive reality. Do not, I repeat DO NOT focus on the rejection and the bad reviews. For every 100 readers you will get one who takes the time to write a review. And some of them will be bad. Take it for what it's worth, take something to help you grow out of it (unless it's just a really mean troll then make a voodoo doll of him and stab him with your fountain pen) and move on.

Writing may not always be the glamorous, sexy profession that Hollywood makes it out to be, but it is certainly rewarding. I mean, where else do you get to work from home and set your own hours, and most of all- where else do you get to create whole worlds?!

I could not do anything else :)

The main thing is to keep writing. All the time. Writing and reading. Everything! Keep a little notepad with you when you go out so you can jot down ideas- inspiration can and does show up anywhere and everywhere!

Be like Dory but replace swimming with writing.