What Writers Want You to Know About the Writerly Life

I've got a head cold that's not going away. When I get sick, I get a bit ditzy, so the simplest things make me giggle.

I'm getting a kick out of the Twitter tag #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter. Yeah, it's awfully long for a tag, but writers are adapting just fine to the truncated tweet. Give it a read and have a window into our secret world...

Journalists are getting a kick out of watching their fellow writers moan about how their writing careers are perceived by non-writers: BBC has a good article, and The Observer was pasted all over the place.

So, here is my list of things that we writers would love you to know about the writerly life:

1. We write because we can't not write. That, and variants on that theme, are the primary reason we do it. Stories fill our heads. Characters natter in our ears. We are perpetually plagued by the question, "What if...?" Something in our souls yearns to be released, and it's through writing.

2. Money is not our meter stick. Granted, it's nice when we get paid for our work, and many of us aim to become financially independent, but it is not the primary driving force behind our career choice. (See #1) This is not a career you enter expecting to be well and equally compensated. But if you want to tap into the more lucrative side of writing, try magazine articles or copywriting. Just know that most of us are in it more for the love than the lucre.

3. We write more than novels. Early in my career I wrote short stories, non-fiction articles, screenplays and more. (If you're still stuck on #2 above, know that my biggest paying job to date was a non-fiction article for a popular parenting magazine. Less than a thousand words, more than a thousand bucks.) Writing covers all sorts of things. This is why writers squirm when, after telling you they're a writer, you ask, "So, what novels have you published?"

4. Publication is not the justification gold standard. Just because a writer is unpublished (or pre-published) doesn't mean they're a bad writer. It simply means they have not (yet) been published. That's all. Took me a few years.

A cold, hard, sad fact is that most writers have to put in some serious chops working and perfecting their craft before publication comes along. Also, publication doesn't automatically happen once you've finished something. It's a demand market, and often there are more really good pieces than there are publication spots.

That said, the deghettoisation of indie publishing has gone a long way towards giving many, many good writers an opportunity to reach readers. I've read some spectacular indie-published books. Don't let the fear of getting a dud keep you from picking up an indie book. Like agents and editors are the vetters for traditional publishing, your fellow readers vet indie works very well. Check out a book's ratings on Amazon or Goodreads if you want an indication of its quality.

5. Writing is a real job. Sure, lots of people have it as a hobby. But some of us make a career out of it. Because it takes time to go through our apprenticeships and journeyhoods before we are able to write a quality novel, we are putting in a lot of work before the financial payoff (if any) arrives. Until that happens, we need to source money sufficient for putting food in our bellies, a garret over our head and clothes on our backs.

Gone are the days of rich, titled patrons who sponsored us. Now, it's a tolerant spouse with a full-time job, or arts grants, or working what we fondly call, "The Day Job". So yeah, often we are working at least two jobs so we can pursue what we love and still eat.

6. Writing is not easy. Especially if its good writing. Heck, even slapping down horrible first-draft copy can be difficult at times. A novel is a complex piece of art with many components. Don't think that it's a doddle to write, and the first words that flow from our fingertips are brilliant works of timeless prose. It takes much effort to get it to the lovely stage you see in a printed novel.


Dear readers, we love you. We love you very much and we write marvelous stories to lift your hearts and take you away. A career as an author doesn't follow the same career path as a middle manager or an accountant or schoolteacher. We are the children of the muses and dance to a different tune.

Just thought I'd let you know.

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Her Grace is a career author. She's got two novellas currently published, another novella coming out in February and a full-length novel out sometime near the end of the year, followed by a second in the new year.

Go buy her books. Otherwise, convince someone else to buy her books:

AS GOOD AS GOLD - historical fantasy romance - 4/5 stars
FOR RICHER, FOR POORER - SF/Fantasy romance - 4.5/5 stars

Out from The Wild Rose Press and available where all good ebooks are sold.

What is your career vision?

Fellow writer John Scalzi recently made a deal with his publisher to deliver thirteen books over the next ten years. The money mentioned was a nice thing, but what impressed me the most was the time-frame.

Essentially, this guy just scored TEN YEARS of Job Security as an author. He knows what he's gonna be doing for the next ten years and won't have to worry about where/when the money is coming from to pay the bills, or if anyone's gonna buy his next book. He's set for a decade.

What a lucky guy. I wish I had that sort of stability in my writing career.  Chances are, when my backlist is as long as his, I might get that chance.

Whenever I hear news of this sort, I give a review to my 50-Year Plan (aka writing career). Is my career on track? What can I do to improve the little things?

I have a business plan. After reading Scalzi's thoughts on That Deal, I reviewed my plan. I take comfort in the fact that I didn't feel the need to alter or change much of that plan. I did feel a touch more motivation. And I'm lucky to be able to act on that motivation today.

Last week was a Very Busy Week with lots of non-writing stuff. I had to put writing aside for 160 hours. Now that I've got my regularly scheduled life back, Scalzi's news came at just the right time to let me indulge in a motivational reaction, instead of whimpering uselessly while Everything Else pushed my writing aside.

I'm 60% through my current WIP, right on target for my August 1 deadline.

Meanwhile, I am happy and thankful to have a backlist. Feel free to read and review my books. I've got more coming out soon.

Question for comments: What is your career vision? Do you have a plan?

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Her Grace dreams of the day she'll permanently be a full-time author.

Head in the Game

I confess April burned me out a little when it comes to blogging. Fret not, I'll get back into a regular posting schedule in June. May is a very busy month for me, with the end of the Semester and about ten family birthdays and the onset of Winter (Makuru). The big rocks demand all my spoons this week.

The other day I was at work reading a manual. I got to the end of the page and couldn't remember a thing I'd read. It was just after lunch and my brain was drifting about. I couldn't stay focused. I kept thinking about my novels. I had to go back and re-read the page two more times. It took a lot of energy, but I got it done.

While daydreaming is a very important tool to the Artist, and it's good that a brain wants to sort out the WIP, doing it while I'm on someone else's dollar is not the done thing.

Most writers have the Day Job--that reliable source of income that enables a roof over our heads and food in our bellies and electricity to our computers. It is, essentially, our Patron. And as our Patron, you need to give it proper respect if you wish it to continue supporting your creative lifestyle.

And that means when you're at the Day Job, you focus on the Day Job. That's the etiquette.

But man, some days focus can be harder than others.

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Her Grace's marketing tip: If you're allowed to put up stuff in your cubicle, put up pics of your book covers. Also, a Post-it saying, "Buy my books!" doesn't hurt either. Otherwise, head in the game.

Powered Flight: when a woman's not writing Romance

Oh. My. Gosh.  Who in the Romance industry hasn't heard of Dame Barbara Cartland? I don't need to tell you she wrote over seven hundred novels, not to mention plays, opera, music, magazine articles and more. That alone should put you in complete and total awe.

I said   A W E.  (Ignore her overfondness for the colour pink.)

Otherwise, Dame Babs' social adventures makes the Kardashians look like a sixth grade girl's playground tussle. Check out her Wikipedia entry. I wouldn't be surprised to see a "Keeping Up with the McCorquodales", should reality television have existed nearly a hundred years ago. Certainly would have been far more entertaining than anything shown today.

Nevertheless, she's one of those larger-than-life people that everyone should meet at least once in their lives.

But Dabe Babs was more than awe-inspiring. Dame Babs should totally smack your gob.

You would never have guessed this froofy socialite with royal connections and overblown literary aspirations spent her down time pioneering aviation.

Gobsmacked yet?

She was rather fond of unpowered gliding. When she wasn't campaigning for better pay for midwives and nurses or championing housing rights for gypsies (Travellers), she was hanging out at the airport, inventing towed gliders. Back then, gliders were considered short-range toys to keep the rich entertained. But Dame Barbara saw potential in long-distance gliders.

How useful it would be, she thought, to tow a glider up high, then set it loose to fly as far as 200 miles away. So she built her own, naturally named the "Barbara Cartland". She even took it for a mail run to prove its worth.

It impressed someone important, because her inventions were later used in WWII as silent troop carriers, aka the gliding infantry, as you do.

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Her Grace feels better when she reads about other overachievers.

The Silent Times

There are times in a writer's career when it is silent.

Very silent.

Too silent.

The only sound is the clacking of keyboards or the scratching of pens.  No other noise is heard.

It is the quiet while you wait to hear back from beta-readers, agents, editors.  It is the waiting for feedback or reviews.  It is the checking of one's email to reveal no new messages. It is the lack of comments on one's blog, the dearth of replies on Twitter, the absence of pingbacks on Pinterest.

If an author sits really still, one can completely believe that there is no other soul out there. It is an overwhelming sense of isolation.

Even today, the lonely garret still exists.

Do a writer a favour and go tell them something--anything--positive about their career.  Sometimes we need to know we're not working in complete solitude.

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Her Grace can't hear crickets. How odd. One would expect at least the creaking of the glacier that is publishing.