Life as a Published Author

[Steerpike]

Or, at least, the life of Jody Hedlund. The quote that I really felt was telling was this one:

"My writing isn't something that I do in my spare time anymore. I've had to come to grips with the realization that I'm a working mom with a home writing business. I try to set regular work hours and stick to them."

I think that is something that aspiring authors have to realize, and have to adjust accordingly. If you want to make a career of writing, I think your chances are better if you approach it as you would a job. You don't just write when you feel like it, or when you think you have time, or when inspiration hits. You write regularly, because that's what writers do.

Author, Jody Hedlund: What's Life Really Like as a Published Author?

 

[Philip Overby]

I've tried to hammer this home with myself and others over the years. If you claim to be a writer, you have to write everyday. No bones about it. If working on your WIP isn't working, work on a short story. If that's not working, blog. If that's not working, write notes to yourself. One way or another, you should be writing everyday. Then when you get to the point where writing is part of your daily "to do list" then you're getting somewhere.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I write every night. Occasionally something comes up (like, recently we had to fill out a mortgage refinance application; filling it out and collecting all the documents took a couple of hours), but absent that, I write as much as I can.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

There's a lot of discussion revolving around outlining, word choice, character development, scene building, etc. where successful & well-respected author's have differing opinions.

I have never once heard a writer in this category say that writing every single day isn't a necessity. It's one of the constants. If you can't dedicate time everyday to writing, you'll never be more than a hobbyist. That means sitting down to work every day or night, regardless of some ideal of inspiration.

 

[ShortHair]

Just to play devil's advocate, I've always thought the idea of daily amateur writing was hogwash. I have a day job, and I have to devote most of my energy to it. Some days I don't feel like writing, so I don't write. That's not to say that I can't write or don't want to write. Putting that energy into nonwork activity means that my day job would suffer, and I might get fired, and then where would I be?

Now, if writing were my job, I'd devote most of my energy to it, and something else might suffer. Right now it's a hobby, and I treat it as a hobby.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Some days I don't feel like writing, so I don't write.

Ok I'll bite.... You're telling me that you can't spare 30 mins or an hour every day to do nothing but write? I wouldn't presume to know your situation. Maybe you can't.

Sitting down to write everyday regardless of how you feel is essential to growing as a writer IF you want to be a professional. If that's not what you want out of it then thats an entirely different conversation.

Most of us have day jobs but sacrifice in order to write everyday with rare exception. There's lawyers that do it.... IT professionals... I'm in pharmaceuticals working 9-5 with a family. I write 2-3 hours every night (yes I'm tired a lot). My point is if you're only writing when you feel like it, then maybe it's not as much a matter of time as it is commitment? If you're approaching writing from the perspective of a hobby, well that's not what we're really talking about.

Don't get me wrong... Not trying to judge or act like I know your situation at all. I'm genuinely curious as to your outlook and wishing for constructive discourse concerning our differing outlooks.

 

[Steerpike]

Just to play devil's advocate, I've always thought the idea of daily amateur writing was hogwash.

I think this is true, in the case of amateur writing as a hobby. I think if you want to make a career of it and be a non-hobbyist writer, it is helpful to treat it more like a job.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I think this is true, in the case of amateur writing as a hobby. I think if you want to make a career of it and be a non-hobbyist writer, it is helpful to treat it more like a job.

That I agree with. I don't think that's what Shorthair meant though. I think he/she is saying that unless you're a signed pro, making a living writing, then having to write every day (and working another job to support yourself) is hogwash. Maybe I misunderstood.

 

[Steerpike]

That I agree with. I don't think that's what Shorthair meant though. I think he/she is saying that unless you're a signed pro, making a living writing, then having to write every day (and working another job to support yourself) is hogwash. Maybe I misunderstood.

Ah. No, I may have misunderstood. I agree with you. That doesn't mean I manage to write every single day, but I've actually done much better at it, and I think it is the right goal.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

The idea that you cannot succeed as a writer unless you write every single day, full stop, is obviously false. There's no reason why missing a single day of writing would somehow torpedo your entire career.

The implication of the "write every day" advice is that if you don't get in the habit of writing frequently, you're a lot less likely to succeed, because in order to be a writer, you must, above all else, write.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Of course you will miss occasional days... That's life. The idea is to strive to stick to a regimen of some sort. Pros generally just say "write every day."

Although I do think it's important to try and stick to that as closely as possible.

 

[ThinkerX]

I have a day job.

Nature of said day job sometimes lets me think a bit about what I'm writing, but not actually do any writing. (I tend to spend these moments pondering ideas and going over plot points).

I do try to write a bit - an hour or two each evening. With this being the busy time of year, that is not always possible. (I've actually let a few 'must do' projects slide a bit because of the writing).

And...I don't always get to spend my writing time working directly on my stories. Case in point: my current stories are set mostly in the same world, with characters from one story making appearancess in others. Said characters have different motivations, and are working towards different ends, often rooted in 'dynastic power politics'. Different characters support different dynanstic factions. This grew complicated enough to where I had to take time away from the story writing to compose a detailed geneology, of all things. Said geneology *had* to meet certain constraints *already* imposed by the stories. Took me three evenings to come up with something acceptable. Likely, this is something most readers won't pay much attention to - but I had to because of consistency.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I have a day job.

Nature of said day job sometimes lets me think a bit about what I'm writing, but not actually do any writing. (I tend to spend these moments pondering ideas and going over plot points).

I do try to write a bit - an hour or two each evening. With this being the busy time of year, that is not always possible. (I've actually let a few 'must do' projects slide a bit because of the writing).

And...I don't always get to spend my writing time working directly on my stories. Case in point: my current stories are set mostly in the same world, with characters from one story making appearancess in others. Said characters have different motivations, and are working towards different ends, often rooted in 'dynastic power politics'. Different characters support different dynanstic factions. This grew complicated enough to where I had to take time away from the story writing to compose a detailed geneology, of all things. Said geneology *had* to meet certain constraints *already* imposed by the stories. Took me three evenings to come up with something acceptable. Likely, this is something most readers won't pay much attention to - but I had to because of consistency.

I would consider this a form of writing. Although, it may not be direct growth in craft, working on story is exceedingly important and something to master all on its own.

 

[Chilari]

My name is Chilari and I have a day job.

Wait this isn't unpublished authors anonymous?

I quickly found, when writing the last two projects I discarded, that the moment I stopped writing every day was the moment I stopped writing altogether. "It's only one day" becomes "it's only two days" and before I know it, it's been a week. So for now, for me, it's daily or I might as well find a new story to write. I only write for 30 to 40 minutes a day - after work I just want to wind down and get some food, so I give myself a certain amount of time to do that and then write for a bit. If I write 500 words I'm happy. In installments of that size I don't often find myself stuck, because by the time I get to a bit it's been on my mind for a few days - when I have moments when my mind can wander, like on the way to work when Dad's driving or in the shower or as I fall asleep, I think of what's coming up next, the rest of the scene, the next scene, so I know where things are going and only get stuck on things like names for minor characters or if I need to do a touch of research, which are quickly resolved by name generators and Wikipedia.

So while I might not spend as much time writing each night as others (I'll work my way up) the fact that I'm writing every day means that I will eventually end up with a complete draft (I estimate mid December if I keep going at this rate til October 31 then do NaNoWriMo at 1667 words a day and then go down to 750 words a day in December). If I only wrote when I felt like it I might be able to knock out 4,000 words in one session but then might not write for three weeks after that. Writing daily keeps things moving, keeps the story in my mind, and gives no room for self-doubt or negative reflection.

 

[Telcontar]

...because in order to be a writer, you must, above all else, write.

And to succeed as a writer you must have written. (Tenses are fun!) You need finished product.

I agree entirely with Ben - the point of the "Write every day thing" is to put the amateurs into the habit of getting work done on their books, stories, etc. If you never finish anything, you'll never earn money off it.

 

[Penpilot]

Writing regularly is very important to improving. Here's a tiny metric to give some perspective on just how little you have to write each day in order to get something big done. If you write 250 words a day for a 365 day year, you put down over 90 thousand words. That's a novel length work. The guy who wrote Fight Club the novel wrote on his lunch hour 250 words at a time. I guess it boils down to commitment and choice. Do I want to write for an hour or do I want to do X? To me, it's as simple as that.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

And to succeed as a writer you must have written. (Tenses are fun!) You need finished product.

I agree entirely with Ben - the point of the "Write every day thing" is to put the amateurs into the habit of getting work done on their books, stories, etc. If you never finish anything, you'll never earn money off it.

And to have succeeded as a writer you must will have been going to had written.

Note: I may be drunk.