Criminal Minds

 

Title: Please No Photos!

 

Writers do more than writing as we know. Which bit of the publishing-business side of this caper would you ditch if you could? Or, which bit of the business side would you happily do for yourself if you had to?

 

Hmmm what other side of writing do I like besides the writing? Nothing, nada, zip, not a good gosh darn thing! Seriously, if I had my druthers, which I guess, theoretically, I do. I would only write. Down with marketing, down with interviews, down with going outside where I need to wear clothes that are not pajamas. Okay, that may be a bit dramatic, but seriously, writers are special breed. You really can find a lot of us happily bumming around communing with the voices in our heads and creating new worlds for you to enjoy. This is where lots of us find and appreciate our super powers.

My sister has been caught up in a mad binge of the series Alone. So, every day when we talk, we fantasize about our ability to make it alone on a desert island. Of course we have stipulations, someone would have to build our shelter and provide us with food, but other than that, she’s convinced we could make it. Me, not so much, I need a comfy bed and a working TV and my library.

Still, I do love the idea of being completely alone to do what I want when I want it. I kind of thought this is what being a writer would be like. As it turns out, the writing is the easy part. The part I and most of the writers I know relish. There is nothing like sitting in your writing cave, no matter where it may be building your world, meeting your characters for the first time. Nothing.

But that part seems to go so fast, at least when you’re on the trail of that good story that you can’t wait to share with the world. But as sure as the rain will fall in spring, all the rest is waiting.  The editing, podcast, interviews, and the like is as much a part of the writing journey as putting those words on the page. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love meeting readers. How cool is it to know someone is reading words that came directly from your head to the page, and they get it! You couldn’t buy that feeling.

 

 But I’ve no quite gotten to loving the rest, you know, the middle part between that first draft and the final copy. And I especially do not enjoy the angst that comes with helping your book baby find it’s home among readers. I will acknowledge that I may be in the minority where this is concerned. I know writers who are perpetually on, ready and waiting with a warm smile and firm handshake to tell you all about their latest project at a moment’s notice. I know writers who love the editing process to the point where they look forward to it. I would love to be that writer. But for now, I remain the writer that enjoys the first draft and suffer through the rest.