The Plight of a Writer
Most people would say being a writer is possibly one of the most cushy jobs out there, at least for well-established authors. You get to work whatever hours you want, you don’t have to wear any kind of uniform, and you can work in the comfort of your own home. Some would say having such a job would be a dream come true. But is it really as easy as everyone thinks it is?
Being a writer myself I can vouch that this is indeed the most cushy job I’ve ever had, and I see that as both a blessing and a curse. With writing it’s not nearly as simple as clocking in and out and just doing the job in that time. The words don’t come out when you want them to, and if you force yourself too hard to make them come the result is less than desirable. The cushy nature of this job makes it difficult to concentrate, or even stay on task. The comfort lends itself to distraction, and some days that distraction keeps you from writing anything at all. Even now I’m sitting at my desk staring at a blank Word page trying to think of how to start the next chapter of my book. Writer’s block is the greatest bane of any author. Inactivity leads to a wandering mind, and when the mind wanders thoughts turn to other things, such as wondering what your friends are doing on Facebook, or how much you want to play that new game you downloaded off of Steam the previous night. This can lead to entire days, even weeks, lost. Whenever this happens to me I feel nothing but frustration and anxiety because I’m not putting as much time and effort as I want into my work. That same frustration can act as a mental block that keeps even more work from getting done, and before you know it you’re caught in a spiral of self-loathing because you’re sitting comfortably at home wasting your time doing nothing while everyone else in the world has to work themselves to the bone just to keep a roof over their heads. You can call being a writer the cushiest job in the world and you’d be right, but that doesn’t make it any less stressful or frustrating.
Why do I bother writing at all if it causes me so much stress, so much emotional pain? The answer is quite simple, it’s because I love it. Even with all its flaws, writing is easily the most exhilarating job I can imagine. Creating a world entirely your own, populating it, creating its history, and weaving stories that can change that very foundation you’ve spent so long building, it’s a feeling I simply cannot express with words. There are moments between the writer’s blocks where you get a bolt of inspiration, and suddenly you’ve entered a state of zen where the words are flowing out of your head faster than you can type them. You lose yourself in the story, the characters, and the book truly becomes your own. When that moment comes I feel more alive than I ever have in my entire life. It’s an addictive drug that you can’t get enough of, and you find yourself wearing your fingers to the bone on your keyboard just to get another fix. It’s a kind of feeling that I would spend hundreds of hours in frustration just for one minute of this bliss, and I would do so with a smile on my face. This is the reason I push myself to keep writing, and I imagine it’s the same for most other authors as well.
Being a writer myself I can vouch that this is indeed the most cushy job I’ve ever had, and I see that as both a blessing and a curse. With writing it’s not nearly as simple as clocking in and out and just doing the job in that time. The words don’t come out when you want them to, and if you force yourself too hard to make them come the result is less than desirable. The cushy nature of this job makes it difficult to concentrate, or even stay on task. The comfort lends itself to distraction, and some days that distraction keeps you from writing anything at all. Even now I’m sitting at my desk staring at a blank Word page trying to think of how to start the next chapter of my book. Writer’s block is the greatest bane of any author. Inactivity leads to a wandering mind, and when the mind wanders thoughts turn to other things, such as wondering what your friends are doing on Facebook, or how much you want to play that new game you downloaded off of Steam the previous night. This can lead to entire days, even weeks, lost. Whenever this happens to me I feel nothing but frustration and anxiety because I’m not putting as much time and effort as I want into my work. That same frustration can act as a mental block that keeps even more work from getting done, and before you know it you’re caught in a spiral of self-loathing because you’re sitting comfortably at home wasting your time doing nothing while everyone else in the world has to work themselves to the bone just to keep a roof over their heads. You can call being a writer the cushiest job in the world and you’d be right, but that doesn’t make it any less stressful or frustrating.
Why do I bother writing at all if it causes me so much stress, so much emotional pain? The answer is quite simple, it’s because I love it. Even with all its flaws, writing is easily the most exhilarating job I can imagine. Creating a world entirely your own, populating it, creating its history, and weaving stories that can change that very foundation you’ve spent so long building, it’s a feeling I simply cannot express with words. There are moments between the writer’s blocks where you get a bolt of inspiration, and suddenly you’ve entered a state of zen where the words are flowing out of your head faster than you can type them. You lose yourself in the story, the characters, and the book truly becomes your own. When that moment comes I feel more alive than I ever have in my entire life. It’s an addictive drug that you can’t get enough of, and you find yourself wearing your fingers to the bone on your keyboard just to get another fix. It’s a kind of feeling that I would spend hundreds of hours in frustration just for one minute of this bliss, and I would do so with a smile on my face. This is the reason I push myself to keep writing, and I imagine it’s the same for most other authors as well.
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