People have a number of misconceptions about what it means to be a writer.
One is that novelists make a lot of money. Like Stephen King or Nora Roberts. But I just heard that only 1% are able to support themselves from their published works. Most are supported by someone else or hold down some other kind of job.
Another is that writers just wait for the muse to strike and then the words flow like a river over a waterfall. Ha ha ha.
There are others, but I’ll stop at two.
I have been struggling this summer to finish another book. It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finally figure out why the writing had been so difficult. You would think that after 70+ books I would recognize certain signs and be able to address them earlier in the process. Not so.
Anyway, I was happy to be heading off to my annual brainstorming retreat last week because I knew, when I talked things through with these wonderful writers, I would have a breakthrough. And that is just what happened. About ten or fifteen minutes into my session, I got my Ahha! moment. And the longer we talked after that, the more answers/solutions/ideas I got.
I’m not going to pretend that suddenly those words are flowing like that proverbial river over a waterfall. Writing a novel takes as long as it takes, and sometimes the words come at about one per minute. Some take even longer.
But at least I can say with honesty that I’m excited about the direction I’m headed.
Now to get back to the WIP and the search for more words.
~robin
